Quaternary Tournament
by pseudowriter
Summary: This is an AU story. The realm of Hogwarts is in need of a new sovereign. That's why for the first time, since a hundred years, the Quaternary Tournament is going to take place. Every pureblood witch or wizard between 17 and 25 is allowed to take part.
1. Introduction

**Disclaimer: **Everything you recognise belongs to J.K. Rowling and everything else is probably stolen somewhere as well ;-)

**Author's Note:** I've taken known facts from the books to create a new story with a sort of medieval background. I hope you like it.

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><p><strong>Quaternary Tournament<strong>

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><p><strong>1. Introduc<strong>**tion**

The realm of Hogwarts was divided into three main social levels. The upper level, of course, consisted of Purebloods. Purebloods had only magical ancestors and could track them flawlessly down for at least two centuries. They were the elite of the wizarding world and even though there were differences between the individual families, depending on their magical ability and richness, they all had, in general, the same rights and powers over lesser human beings.

Next in line came the Halfbloods. Halfbloods were everyone with at least one muggle ancestor somewhere in their bloodline, even if that occurred several generations before. They were mostly accepted into the wizarding world, although they didn't have the same rights and privileges as the Purebloods and had to follow several restricting rules. For example, Halfbloods weren't allowed in any leading position and had commonly a lesser magical education then the Purebloods.

The bottom level was composed of Muggles. They and their ancestors had no magic power whatsoever. Their inability to do magic left them defenceless against the wizards and witches of Hogwarts, who eventually abused their power and enslaved them. That's why nowadays Muggles had no rights at all. They had to unconditionally obey every order their masters, the Purebloods, gave them.

There were also two known subspecies, Squibs and Muggleborns. But they were so unusual that these days the majority of the wizarding world believed that they were either extinct or had never existed in the first place. The authorities however knew better. They were still aware of those abnormalities among the wizarding population and dealt with them in their own way.

Squibs were non-magical people born into wizarding families, but they were really rare. And most of them were killed instantly as a family, who produced a squib would loose its reputation and would be condemned for eternities. For these reasons the families in question would never mention this calamity to anyone and so, with time, people began to forget their existence at all. Only very few Squibs survived, because their parents risked everything to find them a place to life as Muggles.

Muggleborns were even more seldom than Squibs. Muggleborns were supposed to be magical people born to Muggles. Officially they didn't exist and anytime a magical child was born to a Muggle-woman it was explained that a Pureblood must have fathered the child, which was a disgrace in itself. Therefore all 'Muggleborns' had to be hunted down mercilessly and be killed instantly.

x

The regime of Hogwarts was represented by the sovereign and his council. Although the sovereign had the final say in everything, it was recommended to have the council's accordance, because the council had the power to dispossess the sovereign, when all twelve council-members voted for it.

At the time being Hogwarts was ruled by Abraxas Malfoy, but that was about to change. Abraxas had finally reached an age where he could not be trusted to lead the country anymore and so he was asked to resign by the council.

That's why for the first time, since a hundred years, the Quaternary Tournament, also known as the Fourwizard Tournament, was about to take place.

Every pureblood witch or wizard between seventeen and twenty-five was allowed to take part in the competition, revolving four magical tasks, to claim the title of the next sovereign of Hogwarts.

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><p><strong>So what do you think?<strong> **Are you interested in this story?**

**I'm not sure how frequently I'm going to update, but I've already ****planned out**** most of the plot and I promise I will eventually finish it.**


	2. The Participants

**Author's Note: **So here is chapter 2, I've even finished it faster than I thought :-)

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><p><strong>2. <strong>**The Participants**

The news about the Tournament finally taking place again spread like wildfire throughout the wizarding world. Every young witch and wizard of the right age desired to take part, and of course, to win.

One of those hopeful young wizards was Ronald Weasley. Ron had turned seventeen a few months ago and the possibility of competing in the Quaternary Tournament was very tempting.

Ron simply couldn't believe his luck that the Tournament would actually occur now, when he had just reached the right age to take part.

During their entire childhood, he and his siblings had dreamt about being in the Tournament. They had talked about what they would do, if they would become sovereign and most of their games had always revolved around the four tasks they had to master.

But as they grew older, his brothers lost one by one their interest in the Tournament, as they all found their place in the world and his little sister, there Ron was sure, would do fine as well.

Only Ron had no idea what to do with his life. He didn't think he had any special skills or interests to rely on. Maybe that was why he alone still dreamt about winning the Tournament. This would be his chance to prove himself to everyone, especially his family. After all, as the second youngest child and youngest son of seven he often felt overlooked.

x

The Weasleys were a very old pureblood family, but awfully poor. They only had a handful of servants. But unlike in most pureblood households, there couldn't be found muggle slaves at the Burrow. All their servants were Halfbloods, and that despite the fact, that their sustenance was a lot more expansive then the Muggles'. But Arthur Weasley was against slavery on principle, so they just didn't have them.

Their youngest servant was a boy with the name Harry Potter. Harry's parents were killed when he was about a year old.

The authorities had discovered that Harry's mother was a Muggleborn, and therefore they killed her. His father, although being a Pureblood, met the same fate as he was involved with a Muggleborn, which was just as bad as being one himself.

Harry on the other hand couldn't be killed. The ancient wizarding laws unfortunately forbade the killing of wizarding children of magical parentage, regardless of the fact that one of them was muggleborn. For that reason, Harry Potter was brought up by his great aunt and uncle, Purebloods extraordinaire, who made him pay every day for the shame his existence had caused them.

When Harry turned eleven his great aunt and uncle decided it was time for him to earn his own keep and threw him out. Being a small and skinny child with questionable background, no one wanted to take him in. No one, but Arthur Weasley.

So Harry came to live with the Weasleys, where he now was trained to become a Defence-Wizard by Remus Lupin, in order to protect the Burrow against Dark Magic.

With time Ron and Harry had become friends, well, as far as a Pureblood could be friends with a Halfblood that is.

x

Ron and Harry were busy feeding the chickens. An activity that essentially should be unthinkable for a Pureblood, as it was even considered a disgrace for a Halfblood. But at the Burrow those rules were irrelevant.

"What is the matter with you?" Harry asked suddenly. Ron had been exceptional quiet and thoughtful the whole day again, just like the previous two days.

"Huh" Ron clearly hadn't paid the least bit of attention to him.

"Are you even listening to me?" Harry complained in mock annoyance.

"No, sorry! I've been thinking about something." Ron said vaguely.

"I've noticed. So, are you going to tell me what's on your mind then?"

"It's …, nothing, really."

"Well, to me it seems that this _nothing_ is bothering you a lot lately. Of course I can't promise you that I'm able to help you, but maybe talking about it is a good start." Harry suggested.

Ron considered this offer for a moment and came to the conclusion that a second opinion couldn't hurt. "Alright I tell you, but you have to promise me that you won't laugh. Okay?"

"Sure"

"I was thinking about joining the Fourwizard Tournament." Ron said, anxious of Harry's reaction.

"The Tournament? I heard of it of course, but I don't know what it is exactly." Harry admitted sheepishly.

Ron starred at him aghast, for a moment he was totally bewildered how on earth Harry didn't know about the Tournament, when he himself had dreamt about it his whole life. But then he remembered his Halfblood status and his unpleasant upbringing.

"Well, you see, Abraxas Malfoy is going to resign and the winner of the Tournament will be his successor." Ron shortly explained the essentials to Harry.

"That's brilliant," Harry exclaimed in excitement. "You simply have to do it."

"Really?" Ron asked perplexed. "You actually think it's a good idea?"

"Of course it is. Just imagine if you indeed win the Tournament. You would be the leader of Hogwarts and I could be your First Defence-Wizard." Harry said dreamily, while Ron beamed at him.

"No seriously," Harry continued more genuine, "You would make a much better sovereign than Abraxas Malfoy, that's for sure. With you as leader, the Halfbloods and the Muggles certainly would have a better life."

Ron frowned at Harry, "Yeah, well, I guess so" he mumbled a bit uncomfortably. He hadn't thought about that at all. His only interest in the Tournament had always been the fame, the appreciation, the power and the richness. In other words, everything no one would ever associate with him.

xxx

The whole Weasley family was gathered around the table in the dining room and listened to Charlie's latest report about a dragon attack at the northwest border of Hogwarts.

"Wasn't that awfully dangerous?" Molly asked worried. Of course she was proud of her son, Charlie was a Dragon-Fighter after all, a highly respected job in Hogwarts, but also very dangerous and Molly was always afraid that something bad could happen to him.

"Nah, it was okay" Charlie declined nonchalantly. "Dragons are only really dangerous when you face them alone. That's why our squads consists at least of ten fully trained wizards, mum, while five of us attack the Dragon the other five are able to protect the group.

"And highly expansive," Bill chimed in, "you should see the amount of money Hogwarts spends every month on you Dragon-Fighters." Bill was one of the five treasures in commission of the sovereign and one part of his job was it to observe the money expense for the security of Hogwarts.

"Exactly," said Percy, "that's why the council is going to deliberate next month, if ten wizards per squad is really necessary, or if their number can be reduced to eight, or maybe even six."

"You're kidding right," Charlie said exasperated, "Where did you here such a nonsense?"

Percy looked highly insulted at this question and said rather self-importantly. "As the second clerk of the council it is my job to know things like that."

"But they are not actually going to do this, right?" Molly asked terrified.

"They absolutely can't do this." Charlie flared up furiously, "That would be highly dangerous for us."

"I don't think they will." Arthur said thoughtfully. "Not with the recent resignation of Abraxas Malfoy and the upcoming Tournament. They have enough to deal with that at the moment."

Percy huffed indignantly, how come no one seemed to ever believe him in this family.

"I'm going to attend the Fourwizard Tournament" Ron burst out suddenly, causing his siblings around the table to fall in a stunned silence before they burst out laughing.

"Don't be ridiculous" Molly said over the laughter, not in the least perturbed by that announcement, but rather still concerned about Charlie's well-being. After all, each of her sons had dreamt about taking part in the Tournament at least once in their life, but all of them finally realised the absurdity in doing so.

"Even if your magical ability would suffice, we still don't have the money to train you properly or provide you with the required equipment." She said with a finality that implied the matter was closed for her.

"I know that," Ron said sullen, he didn't like being reminded of the fact that they were poor. "But I could at least try, couldn't I? No one says you have to be rich to join the Tournament"

"Yeah, you would be a real competition," Ginny fleered nastily.

Ron ignored her and tried to further reason with his mother, "Neville's grandmother wants him to partake too. If he can do it, why shouldn't I?"

"Well, that is Augusta's decision. She always wanted to push Neville to do things he isn't ready for." Molly brushed him off.

"You and Neville Longbottom," Fred joined in the taunt, "what was it again you two want to compete for? Hogwarts biggest moron?"

"Neville isn't a moron," Ron cried out indignantly, he hated it that Fred and George were always making fun of Neville, admittedly, he could be a bit slow sometimes, but he wasn't stupid, he just sometimes needed longer to accomplish certain things.

"And neither am I," he said defensively, and couldn't stop himself to add. "Besides, I'm even better than Neville."

"Big deal, everyone is better than Neville," George said sarcastically.

Before Ron could draw his wand and curse Fred and George or do something similar impulsive, Arthur intervened by soothingly putting his hand on Ron's shoulder.

"Ron, you're of age, so we can't stop you from entering the Tournament," he said calmly, ignoring the resentful look from Molly, who clearly thought otherwise.

"But you won't stand a chance. I've heard Abraxas Malfoy's grandson, Draco, just turned seventeen a few weeks ago and is going to partake too. I bet you everything that the Malfoys had planned that all along. They probably delayed the resignation of Abraxas until Draco was old enough for the competition. They won't let him loose, you can be sure of that."

"I'm sorry son" he added at the sight of Ron's crestfallen face. He knew Ron wanted and needed a chance to prove himself so badly, but on the same time he was immensely relieved that he could prevent him of joining the competition.

"It's alright," Ron whispered disappointed, "it was a stupid idea anyway."

xxx

Hermione was a seventeen year old Muggle-girl. Ever since she could remember she had been someone's slave. She also had no idea, who her parents were or if they even were still alive.

For the last six month her new masters were the Malfoy family. Hermione had been owned already by several Purebloods, some who treated her badly and others even worse, but none of them had been as awful as the Malfoys. Even the tiniest mistake was severely punished. It wasn't unusual, that a slave was incapable of returning to work for days, after those punishments.

In her six months here, Hermione had mostly managed to avoid such a fate, except for the one time, when she served the tea a few minutes late, because she got lost within the many corridors and rooms of Malfoy Manor. Her sentence had been half an hour at the receiving end of the Cruciatus Curse, the most favoured curse at Malfoy Manor. After that, she was determinate to never let that happen again.

But there was one thing here, Hermione couldn't resist and actually thought was worth the risk of being punished; the library.

Hermione had always been fascinated by the wizarding world, especially everything magical about it. Unfortunately muggles weren't allowed to learn anything about magic. But that didn't stop her to steal a glance at every magical book that came across her. Tragically this love for books was about to become her undoing.

Once more Hermione sneaked into the formidable library of Malfoy Manor. She simply loved the library. She reckoned that only the library of Hogwart Castle was bigger and richer in variety than the Malfoy's and Hermione would give almost everything to get a look at it. But she knew that would never happen. Only Hogwarts sovereign and his confidants had access there.

Of course Hermione wasn't allowed to be in the Malfoy library either, but she just couldn't resist the books. Besides, no other resident of Malfoy Manor seemed to be interested in the library anyway, so it always was deserted. Additionally the library was a mostly unoccupied part of the Manor, hence Hermione felt somewhat save spending some time there.

x

After a few wonderful stolen moments with her beloved books, Hermione slowly opened the door a crack and looked up and down the corridor to make sure nobody could see her emerging the library. As always it was empty. Relieved she quickly slipped out and quietly closed the door behind her.

"What did you do in there?" a cold voice said behind her.

Hermione startled in shock and slowly turned around. Master Snape, the First Potioneer of Hogwarts, was standing right behind her and pierced her with an icy gaze.

"I .., I …," Hermione stammered horrified at being caught. Master Snape continued to stare at her and Hermione had the feeling of being thoroughly examined.

"Please Master Snape" Hermione pleaded fearful, desperately trying to come up with a plausible explanation why she was here. "I must have mistaken the door."

"You filthy lying slave" Master Snape said disgusted. "I know you have been in there on purpose. And it wasn't your first time either. How dare you lie to me, you scum?"

With a flick of his wand, Hermione couldn't move anymore and was raised of her feet to flow in midair. "Master Malfoy is going to hear about this." Master Snape said menacing and dragged her with him.

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><p><strong>Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I want you to have something to look forward to ;-)<strong>


	3. Laws and Torture

**Thanks a lot for your reviews, I love them. :-)**

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><p><strong>3.<strong>** Laws and Torture**

Arthur Weasley was working in the Department of Muggle Misbehaviour. The function of this Department was it to sort out problems between Muggles and their masters and to find a mutual agreement. But unfortunately, most Purebloods these days didn't see the need of a neutral conciliator and punished their Muggles as they pleased while the sovereign didn't do anything about it.

On the contrary, Abraxas Malfoy treated the Muggles even worse than most of the Purebloods. He continued on the path his Grandfather Dragan Malfoy had set in motion when he was sovereign.

Gradually during Dragan's regency the position of the Muggles had reached a low-level. One by one the members of the council were replaced by those in favour for this new regime until there was nobody left to defend the Muggles or fight for their feeble rights.

That's way nowadays the Department of Muggle Misbehaviour was almost useless. Arthur was its only member and his workplace was a dingy little room on the top of the north tower of Hogwarts Castle. By the smell of it, it probably had been an Owlery once and it was only a question of time, until his job was disestablished for good.

A lot of the Purebloods would have liked to see Arthur Weasley be deprived of his Pureblood status but, of course, that wasn't possible. Damn the ancient wizarding laws.

Abraxas Malfoy had certainly tried his best to find a way to abrogate them. His aspiration was it to divide the Purebloods into the 'worthy ones', who should gain more power and rights than the rest of the population, and the 'unworthy ones', people like the Weasleys.

But until now, the ancient wizarding laws couldn't be broken, although that didn't mean it was impossible. The Muggle-Protection-Law, for example was already malfunctioning, as Purebloods were able to treat them more awful with every passing day.

It seemed to be like the more people ignored the law, the less powerful it became. Another regime with a Malfoy as the leader would guarantee its final destruction for sure.

These days Arthur's main task was it to write pleas of reprieve to various Pureblood families about their Muggle slaves, who were thrown in jail or worse were hold captive in some dark and dirty dungeons. So it was hardly surprising that this was exactly what he was doing right now and had been done the whole morning already. He barely was able to hold the quill anymore, because his hand hurt from all the writing.

x

Suddenly the door burst open. "Dad"

Arthur looked up from his parchment, to find Bill standing in front of him, breathing heavily, probably from running up the spiral staircase; you couldn't apparate within Hogwarts Castle.

"Dad, you have to come quickly," he panted out, "they are going to torture her."

"Who is going to torture whom?" Arthur asked alarmed throwing his quill on the parchment, where it left a few ink blotches on the neatly handwriting.

"The Malfoys caught one of their slaves doing something she wasn't supposed to do and now they want to punish her, I don't know the details, come quickly."

There was no need to remind Arthur to hurry up, as he already had gotten to his feet "Where?"

"A the announcement site, in front of the castle," Bill informed him as they quickly left the room.

xxx

A few minutes later, they reached their destination. A large roaring crowd blocked their way to the platform. By the looks of it, and the exultant people in front of them, the torture had already began.

Arthur and Bill started to push through the mob, which become more difficult the closer they came to the platform. The crowd was tighter at the front, as everyone tried to move to there for a better sight.

Lastly they squeezed through the final rows of people and now had a clear view of the events on the platform. Two bulky servants were holding a girl or very young woman between them. She couldn't be much older than Ron and Ginny, Arthur thought with a pang, as she gave another piercing scream, due to the spell with which Lucius Malfoy had cut open her arm.

"STOP!" He bellowed and pushed the last two people out of his way and climbed onto the platform.

"Arthur Weasley" Malfoy sighed enervated at this disturbance and said incisive. "This is none of your business."

"This is exactly my business, Lucius" Arthur said with as much authority as possible, as he shortly turned his gaze over to the girl, who returned it with pleading yet hopeful eyes.

"Proceed" Lucius ordered his servants, who held the girl captive, without paying further attention to Arthur.

One of the servants flicked his wand and the girl, while letting out a frightened cry, was hoisted up into the air by her ankle, accompanied by the loud cheering of the crowd.

Arthur had turned a crimson red out of anger and embarrassment at being ignored. "This is against the law" he shouted over the cheering and the crying of the girl.

Lucius laughed loudly at that. "Is that so?" Well, shall we see if that is still the case?"

And he pointed his wand at the girl and said "Crucio". The girl's screams intensified as she twitched and turned in Midair, for everyone in good sight.

"Enough" Arthur roared appalled. He was shocked to see, that the Muggle-Protective-Law apparently had lost most of its function for good now.

Lucius sneered at Arthur "You want me to stop? Then you have to pay. For ten Galleons the filthy slave scum is yours." The crowd laughed, most of them knew who Arthur Weasley was and that he didn't have this kind of money.

Arthur fumed. Ten Galleons were a lot of money, not only for the Weasleys. For ten Galleons you could purchase at least five slaves.

Arthur knew he shouldn't give in to this offer. It was still against the law after all, to treat ones slaves like that, but of course no one cared anymore and Arthur was alone against a bloodthirsty pack, which was keen to see the girl be punished. But when she let out another piercing scream, Arthur had no choice but to help her.

"I'll give you six Galleons and you let her go" Arthur said, because till his next payment that was all he had left.

Lucius gave a sardonic laughter. "What about a bet, Arthur? What do you think how long such filthy Muggle scum can withstand the Cruicatus Curse? If you win, you can do with her remains as you please."

Arthur paled nauseated, "You can't do this" he said hoarsely, "killing a Muggle without a valid reason is forbidden, if you even try this you have to suffer the consequences."

"Are you worried about me?" Lucius asked with mock appreciation, "No need for that Arthur, no one said anything about killing her, we'll just have a little fun." And with that he raised his wand again and said in a relishing tone "Crucio"

Arthur watched horrified how she was tortured again and again, feeling useless and ashamed that he couldn't help her.

Bill, who was equally disgusted by the occurrences, searched his pockets and wordlessly gave his father the missing four Galleons.

Arthur looked at him gratefully then called out. "Here you have the money, now stop that and let the poor girl down."

With a final curse from his wand, Lucius gave his servants a sign to let her go, which they immediately did, as she ungraceful fell to the floor.

Slowly Malfoy turned around and despisingly scrutinized Arthur, but still took the ten Galleons from him. "What a disgrace for the wizarding world you are," he said snootily.

Then he addressed his audience. "Our dear Arthur here begrudges you the tiniest bit of fun, because it is against the law," he jeered. The crowd howled furiously, but calmed down again at Malfoy's placatory hand gestures and he sarcastically went on. "But in his generosity he paid you a dismissal wage." He showed the money to the crowed, then threw it disdaining between them.

For a moment he watched as the pack fought with each other to reach poor haul first, "pathetic," he mumbled, then turned around and left the platform. His servants followed suit like a pair of dogs, leaving the girl lying on the ground.

Arthur immediately went over to the sunken down figure. He knelt beside her, touched her gently on the shoulder and rolled her over on her back. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Arthur asked, although she obviously wasn't. A bit blood oozed from her mouth and her arms and legs were cut in several places

The girl blinked while she was trying to focus her gaze on him. After a moment she nodded weakly. Arthur smiled encouragingly and helped her up. Shakily she came to her feet.

"What's your name?"

"Hermione" she replied weakly.

"I'm Arthur Weasley," Arthur introduced himself, "and this is my eldest son Bill."

"Nice to meet you," Bill gave her a greeting nod then turned to his father, "I'll better go back to work, see you later." And he left hurriedly.

"We have to treat your wounds," Arthur declared after he gingerly had examined them. "I'm not the best at healing charms, but I know just the right person for the job. Do you think you can walk? It's not very far."

"I …, I don't know." Hermione said hesitantly and tried to do a few steps, still being supported by Arthur. It worked, but rather slowly and by the looks of it, quite painful. And although Hermione attempted to hide it, Arthur noticed it. "I'm really sorry Hermione, but I don't know if Muggles could be taken by Side-Along Apparation, so I'm afraid you have to walk. Unless you don't mind if I levitate you."

Hermione paled at the mention of levitation, "I'll think I manage," she said more confident then she was. "Well, if you help me a bit" she added shyly.

Arthur smiled reassuringly and grabbed her arm more firmly as they started their journey.

x

"Thank you for helping me," Hermione said sheepishly. She still couldn't believe that someone, especially a Pureblood, would come to her rescue. She had been sure she was a goner.

"No need to thank me," Arthur that humbly, "it's part of my job."

"Still," Hermione insisted, "I guess you paid a lot of money for me and I'm very grateful for that and I promise you won't regret it. I will behave myself, I promise."

Arthur watched at her for a moment, wondering what she had done, that deserved such a punishment, but never the less said. "I'm not going to ask you what you have done, Hermione. That's not my business. I'm only going to judge you about your future behaviour at the Burrow."

"That's very kind of you, Master Weasley," Hermione said relieved.

Arthur twinkled at her, "you know, I would ask you to call me Arthur, although I'm afraid it would be better for both of us, if you didn't."

"But I want you to know, that I'm not thinking of you as my slave. You are my servant and us such you get the same treatment as the others, though unfortunately, I'm not allowed to pay you."

Hermione starred at him in disbelief. Was he making some cruel fun with of her? Well, she would have to wait and see what was going to happen.

x

"Master Weasley, may I ask you something?" Hermione asked after a while boldly.

"Sure"

"What …, what is this law you talked about?"

"The Muggle-Protection-Law? It's part of the ancient wizarding laws." Arthur said astonished that she overheard that.

"What are the ancient wizarding laws, who created them and how do they work?" Hermione asked puzzled and very fast, her curiosity getting the better of her again.

Arthur smiled at her forbearingly. "They are some basic rules, so to speak, I guess they should ascertain that we can all live in peace together, although I fear they are about to crumble." He sighed in disappointment. "But nobody knows much more about them these days. Who created them or how they actually work, I have to admit, passed into oblivion over the centuries."

"But you said that Master Malfoy would feel the consequences for disobeying the law. What was that about?"

"Well, after what I've seen today, I guess that doesn't apply for this specific law anymore, but usually if you break one of the ancient wizarding laws you're going to be accursed. How badly the curse will be, depends on the seriousness of your crime."

Hermione still had lot of questions about the matter, but unfortunately they had reached their destination and she didn't get the chance to interrogate him further.

In front of them lay a capital estate surrounded by beautiful gardens. "These are the herb gardens of the Longbottoms." Arthur informed her. "Augusta and her grandson Neville are the makers of the finest healing ointments and remedy potions by far. There is no one better to go to in case of an injury."

x

"Oh, you poor thing," Augusta cooed as she began to treat Hermione with some of her tinctures.

"Damn these Malfoys and their attitude. When my Neville wins the Tournament, there will be an end with this opprobrious behaviour." she muttered fiercely.

Arthur looked at her thoughtfully, maybe she had a point there. With Neville entering the Tournament there was at least a hope for the future of Hogwarts, however tiny this chance of Neville actually winning was.

Arthur liked Neville a lot, he was a kind and obliging young man with his heart in the right place, but unfortunately Arthur doubted his magical skills to succeed in the Tournament.

"Ron wanted to enter the Tournament too," he related, "but Molly and I talked him out of it."

Now Augusta looked almost scandalized. "Really Arthur, I thought you of all people would have endorsed such a decision. You should be proud of your son and encourage him instead of holding him back."

Well he did endorse it, Arthur admitted to himself. He also knew that Ron would be a pretty good choice for a sovereign, so maybe he should have been more supportive of him.

But was he truly willing to risk the life of his son for a forlorn endeavour. The truth was no, his own life, yes, but not Ron's.

"He wouldn't stand a chance," he said sadly. "Not against Draco Malfoy and with the little benefits and protection we could offer him."

"Nonsense," Augusta flared up angrily, "this is a fine young man you've got there and rather talented too. I'm so grateful he is friends with Neville. I know a lot of people think Neville isn't much of a wizard, but your Ron never gave up on him. Did you know he practiced spells with Neville? So now he has become actually rather good at them," she finished proudly.

Arthur hadn't known this. Ron never talked about things like that. "One more reason to prevent them from being killed in the Tournament." Arthur defended his point of view. "There have to be some decent wizards around to fight for the Muggles and probably soon the Halfbloods as well, when it's over and Draco Malfoy is the next sovereign."

Now that he mentioned it, maybe Ron would be the right person to inherit his job. Arthur had thought about a replacement for him a lot lately, because as soon as he would be gone, the Department of Muggle Misbehaviour was going to be terminated. Unless he'd find someone to take over in time, that is. But no one seemed to be interested in his post so far.

"And what if one of those decent wizards would actually win? Then they would be able to make a real change in the regime. But for this to happen, they have to compete first." Augusta lectured him excitedly. "You should have more confident in our boys, Arthur."

And so it went on but neither could convince the other to change their mind. But at least they both agreed that there had to be done something.

Hermione couldn't believe her ears, who were these people? They not only treated her like an actual human being, but they genuinely seemed to want a change, not just for them, but for the Muggles as well.

"So that's it my dear" Augusta exclaimed a bit later addressing Hermione, "all new and shiny again."

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><p><strong>By the way, don't forget to review :-) I like to know what you think!<strong>


	4. Muggle Encounter

**Author's Note:** So here is chapter 4. It also got much, much longer then I expected! So I really hope I kept to the point and I'm not going to bore you ;-)

**AllY**: It was never my intention to make Hermione a damsel-in-distress. That's definitely not in her nature.

But fact is that Hermione has no rights or protection to rely on in the world I've created and so others have to stand up for her at the moment. Additonally I needed a reason for Hermione to come to the Burrow ;-)

I also have to admit, that it wasn't the last time Hermione needed to be rescued, but there is a reason behind as well, so hopefully you don't mind so much.

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><p><strong>4.<strong>** Muggle Encounter**

"That is disgusting" Ron said highly revolted as he watched Neville squeezing a thick, black thingy with swellings. Of course Ron knew it was some kind of healing plant, but that didn't make it more appealing to him.

"Ugh, yuck!" he exclaimed as the swelling popped and a thick yellowish-green liquid burst out, filling the air with a strange smell.

"It's Bubotuber Pus," Neville explained delightedly, "It has a lot of healing powers, it helps you get rid of pimples for example."

Ron nodded nauseatingly in acknowledgement.

"Now you try it," Neville proffered, pointing at another plant that needed squeezing, "but don't forget to wear the dragon-hide gloves.

Ron reluctantly took the gloves from Neville, put them on and gingerly kneeled down beside the plant. He wasn't so sure anymore, if taking lessons in Herbology from Neville had been such a good idea.

So far he had become acquainted with bawling, baby shaped roots and a plant that had tried to strangle him, and now this. He could hardly await what Neville was going to introduce him next to.

Well, he might not be as fascinated about the subject as Neville was about their spell practice, but at any rate, Ron had found a new appreciation for him, dealing with all those dangerous plants. And so he attempted to show at least a bit enthusiasm and tried to take in as much as possible of what Neville told him. But it was clear, this wasn't the right occupation for him at all.

x

"Hey guys," Lavender Brown suddenly appeared out of nowhere without their notice. "Eurgh, what are you doing?" she said disgusted and scrunched up her nose at the smell."

Ron immediately went bright red, thoroughly embarrassed that Lavender had found him kneeling beside some ugly plants and with this disgusting, smelly pus all over him. Appalled he sprang to his feet, while Neville unaffectedly continued to squeeze the black thingies.

"Anyway, Ron is it true that your father just bought a Muggle-girl for ten Galleon?" she asked, eager to know more about this juicy peace of gossip.

"Huh? No! Of course not! My father would never buy a slave." Ron said flabbergasted by this statement.

"Are you sure you don't know anything about it?" Lavender asked, rather disappointed that she wouldn't get first hand information on the matter now.

"Definitely! And particular not for that kind of money, we could never aff …, well, I mean …, he would never do this." Ron blushed even more and quickly tried to distract her from his almost blunder. "Where did you hear this nonsense?"

"The whole town is talking about nothing else." Lavender chattered happily, reviving fast from her former disappointment and now even more excited to be the first to retell, what she had heard in town; especially to Ron, who obviously had no idea what was going on in his own family.

"They say he interrupted her well deserved punishment. Apparently she must have done something really awful, I mean, she was prosecuted in public view after all. Anyway, your father disturbed the proceedings and paid the owner ten Galleons, so that he would release her, which he did of course, just imagine, someone paying you ten Galleons for an ugly, disobeying slave."

Ron grudgingly digested that peace of information and he didn't like it at all. He hated it when the people of Hogsmeade were talking about his family, which unfortunately, happened rather often.

But although Ron had no idea from where his father had that kind of money, it distressingly sounded exactly like what he would do.

xxx

Ron was fuming by the time he reached the Burrow. All day long he had to listen to excuses why they couldn't afford certain things, or specifically, anything he wanted. But there was his father, spending such an amount of money on a filthy, stupid, ugly and disobeying Muggle-girl.

What was it about him and his love for those Muggles anyway? Ron had never understood why his father was willingly working for this good-for-nothing department, where he practically had to pay, for keeping it running.

When he passed the entrance gate, he noticed a small group in the courtyard in front of the main house. Ron stopped abruptly and lingered a moment in the shadows of the archway.

With disdain he watched, as all his siblings and Harry chatted enthusiastically with an unknown girl, probably the Muggle, while his mother was fawning over her like she was a long lost child.

Figuring that he couldn't hide here forever, he left his cover to join the others in the courtyard.

"Ah, Ron, there you are. I want you to meet someone." Arthur called him happily over to them.

"This is Hermione," Arthur introduced her proudly, putting an arm around her shoulder and adjusted her so that Ron had a good look at her.

"Hi!" She said softly, smiling shyly at him. Ron just threw her a short, but dark look and addressed his father instead.

"So it's true? You really bought a slave?" He spat out nastily.

"Ronald!" his mother scolded appalled, but Ron didn't pay much attention to her, as he now glowered at Hermione again, who's smile had vanished and was replaced by shocked and hurt expression. Although Ron noticed that she wasn't as ugly as he had expected, he gave her a final huff and stormed away toward the main house.

"Eh …, well," Arthur said rather irritated by his son's strange behaviour, "that would have been my youngest son Ronald but apparently he is in a rather bad mood today."

Hermione watched after him indignantly. She couldn't believe that this unpleasant boy should be the same Ron, Master Weasley and Mistress Longbottom had talked about earlier. If his behaviour towards her was any indication of his demeanour to every Muggle, she was really glad he wouldn't participate in the Tournament.

xxx

Life at the Burrow was like nothing Hermione had ever experienced. Although the Burrow was a stately home as well, it was a lot smaller than Malfoy Manor and in a way a bit sordid. But it was also full of life and its imperfection actually made it more welcome and homely.

The Burrow was built of the main house, the servant's quarters and a few stables and sheds. In the middle of the courtyard resided a well and the backyard, behind the main house, was arranged as a small garden with some vegetable beds. And all of this was surrounded by a massive defensive wall.

Hermione, of course, was lodged in the servant's quarters, but she didn't mind at all. For the first time in her life she had her own small room and she simply loved it.

There was no library at the Burrow, Hermione noticed disappointed. Magical books were expansive and the Weasleys clearly couldn't afford too many of them. The few ones they did own looked rather used and were scattered all over the place on different shelves or tables. The Weasleys magical knowledge was mostly passed down from parent to child for centuries.

But maybe that was for the best. After all, reading books had brought her into trouble in the first place. Although, in hindsight, that was probably the best thing that could have happened to her, Hermione thought happily. If she hadn't given in to her fascination of books, Hermione would still be a slave at Malfoy Manor and be seen as nothing more then scum.

Here at the Burrow everything was different. The Weasleys were a very nice family and surprisingly treated her like an equal, well, except that Ron guy of course, and Hermione started to feel save and somewhat accepted for the first time in her life.

xxx

Hermione had spent the morning in the vegetable beds clearing it of weeds. This was a job that was better accomplished without magic, if you couldn't perform the spell exactly, which Mistress Weasley had explained to her, was rather complicated and one easily could destroy the vegetables rather than the weeds.

That's why weeding usually served as disciplinary measure for the Weasley children, including Harry, because no one at the Burrow really managed this spell without flaws and they had to do it manually.

But Hermione didn't mind doing it for them. On the contrary, she was glad she could pay them back in some way. Luckily there weren't too many beds and they all had a reasonable size, so that she was finished around midday.

Pleased with herself, Hermione stretched and regarded her work once more. While doing that she noticed that the plants seemed to be in desperate need of water, so she decided to take care of this as well.

x

Ron was sitting on a bench in front of the main house and tried to escape boredom by levitating little stones.

Mesmerised Hermione stopped and watched his activity. Of course she had seen wizards and witches perform magic many times before, but she had never had the opportunity to actually study it. Seeing Ron performing the same spell over and over again was pure heaven. She meticulous observed the exact wand movements his hand produced and attempted to imitate them.

When she had the impression she could do that all right, she tried to make out the mumbled words accompanying the action.

Cautiously she sneaked closer, anxious to not alert Ron to her presence. She already had some unpleasant encounters with him over the past few days and she wasn't keen to be caught sneaking around behind his back. Of course it didn't work.

"What are you skulking around there?" He asked harshly.

Hermione straightened up to her full size, which wasn't much. "It doesn't concern you at all, what I'm doing here. But if you must know, I've lost something." She exclaimed defiantly, trying to hide her embarrassment at being caught. "And I don't skulk!"

Ron angrily got to his feet. Hermione unconsciously took a step backwards so he wasn't so dangerously towering over her, but otherwise readied herself for the upcoming fight.

"I really would watch my tongue, if I were you, or …,"

"Or what?" Hermione cut him off angrily.

"…, or you going to regret it," Ron finished his empty threat.

Hermione huffed indignantly, she had figured out over the last few days that Ron's dislike was solely directed towards her and not Muggles in general and it bothered her immensely.

So she asked, while trying to hold back some angry tears. "Why is it that you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?"

Ron was momentarily taken aback by that, he hadn't expected that question at all. "I don't _hate_ you, I just don't trust you." he said a bit calmer, but also not entirely truthful, he actually didn't know why she disturbed him so much.

Now it was Hermione's time to be stunned. "Why? You don't even know me."

"Exactly," Ron countered and noisily but also somewhat vicious asked. "What is it you have done, that your former Master thought it necessary to punish you?"

Hermione was scandalized. She figured that if Master Weasley didn't want to know, Ron had no right to know all the more. She narrowed her eyes at him and said flippantly. "It's none of your business."

And she rushed in direction of the well, where she vented her anger off by bucketing water for the vegetable beds.

Ron starred fiercely after her then flounced off in the opposite direction.

xxx

Ron was still fuming some time later when Harry found him in need of help.

"I'm telling you, she is the most horrible person I've ever had the misfortune to meet." Ron ranted as he and Harry were checking the brooms in the shed for damages and weak spots.

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "I think she is actually really nice."

Ron looked at Harry as if the later had lost his mind. "You can't be serious. She is an absolute nightmare. If all Muggles are like her, it's no wonder they were enslaved."

"You don't mean that" Harry said shocked.

Ron turned pink. "Well …, no, I don't …, it's just …, she is so infuriating." He admitted, embarrassed now about his outburst.

After that they remained silent for a while, each pondering over their own thoughts.

"By the way," Harry said tentatively, "I'm sorry you can't take part in the Tournament, because your parents can't afford to support you."

Ron looked at him surprised and a bit abashed. "How do you know that?"

"Remus told me. But don't ask me, why he knows about it, because I have no idea. I just wanted to say, I'm really sorry." Harry said and meant it.

"Thanks, but it doesn't matter actually," Ron said disappointed. "There isn't a chance for me to win the Tournament anyway."

"Why?" Harry asked bewildered.

"Draco Malfoy is going to take part. It's obvious that he is going to win, isn't it? I mean his family provides the sovereign for centuries. The Malfoys have access to every source of magical knowledge there is, furthermore Draco is trained by the best witches and wizards of the realm. They won't let him loose."

"Then what's the point of the Tournament" Harry asked even more confused.

"It's part of the ancient wizarding laws, I guess. Something about finding the best possible leader for the wizarding community or so," Ron speculated.

"And they choose Abraxas Malfoy last time?" Harry said unbelievingly.

Ron shrugged helplessly. "Maybe he was the best choice back then."

Harry looked highly unconvinced.

"Well you never really know when it's time to choose the next sovereign, do you? I mean, the officiating sovereign could die unexpectedly at any given time and only young wizards and witches between seventeen and twenty-five are allowed to take part, so maybe there wasn't much competition to choose from. After all, his grandfather was a sovereign as well and the Malfoy family has always been wealthy, so they were able to train him properly."

"What do you have to do in the tasks?" Harry asked curiously.

"I don't know, maybe they tell you after you entered." Ron guessed. "All I know is that you have to participate in four tasks and you have four month to do so."

"Then who is going to judge the competitors and decides the next sovereign?" Harry further interrogated.

"Well that's the problem, isn't it? No one really knows anymore how it works exactly, well, except the Malfoys of course, and I can't imagine them telling anyone else." Ron said resentful.

"There are some strange tales about what is going to happen on the judging day, but I wouldn't believe any of them. Most of the last times partakers are either dead or probably lost their marbles by now. It was, after all, over a hundred years ago and I guess, their account of the event became more unreliable by each retelling."

"The Tasks will be judged at the last day of the four month by an impartial magical force" Hermione interjected suddenly. She had been just passing the open shed as Harry had asked about the judging and curiously stopped to listen.

"How would you know that?" Ron shot up angrily, while Harry looked at her with interest.

"I read about it in Hogwarts: A History" Hermione clarified smugly before she could stop herself.

Ron snorted unbelievingly. "You do know you're a Muggle, don't you? You're not allowed to read magical books."

Hermione blushed furiously. "A few years ago I was owned by a very old witch and she asked me to read it to her because her eyes weren't the best anymore," she tried to explain herself.

It wasn't exactly true. Hermione did live with an old witch with bad eyesight for a while, but all she had to read to her were letters from her family.

Hogwarts: A History was a book she had found in the Malfoy's library, but she wasn't going to reveal that fact to Ron.

Ron frowned at her and, forgetting his dislike for her, asked curiously, "What else do you know about the Tournament?"

Hermione, relieved he believed her subterfuge, went on, excited to share her knowledge. "Everything! Starting with the history of the Tournament, continuing with the rules and ending with the judgement. There was also a paragraph about the four wizards who established the Tournament and their motivation behind it."

Ron gaped at her open mouthed then snorted again. "An old lady made you reading a book about the Tournament to her, inclosing all those details. Very funny. You almost had me there for a moment."

Ron shook his head in annoyance that he fell for her lie, left the shed with a battered old broomstick over his left shoulder and trudged forcefully toward the main house, leaving an irritated Hermione behind.

"Ron wait!" Harry shouted, running after him. "What if she tells the truth?"

Ron stopped in his track and directed his anger toward Harry now. "Come off Harry. If such a book ever existed you won't find it in an old woman's house and she certainly would never allow a slave to touch it, let alone read it. Such a book would be much too precious for that."

"But for a moment you believed her too" Harry insisted.

"That was obviously a mistake, "Ron brushed him off. "Do you know how many people tried for ages to find any information about the four wizards? Well, apparently not, as you've never heard about the Tournament before." Ron answered his own question and went on.

"No one has even an idea who they were, I doubt even the Malfoys know anything about them. So here comes some Muggle-girl, claiming to have read a book about them and you expect me to believe that?"

"She knew about the judgement" Harry argued.

"So what? She probably made that up."

"Why would she do that?"

"How should I know? Maybe she hopes for a reward or something." And with that Ron stormed off.

xxx

Hermione was determined to find out what went wrong earlier in the courtyard with Ron. After all, she had only tried to help him. So she sneaked into the main house and tiptoed upstairs, where she supposed Ron's room might be. Hermione wasn't entirely sure, if she was allowed to sojourn here, so she tried to move as quietly but quickly as possible.

On the third floor a door stood ajar and she saw Ron sitting on his bed mending the twigs of the battered-looking broomstick.

"Master Ronald?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Ron looked up and frowned at her. She had never addressed him in that way before and that irritated him immensely.

"May I speak with you for a moment?" She figured if she was a bit nicer, he might be more easily willing to listen to her.

Ron was so puzzled about her appearance and her attitude that he automatically nodded.

Hermione entered the room and curiously looked around. The room wasn't much bigger then her own, which surprised her.

Ron watched her with narrowed eyes. "What do you want?" he asked impatiently.

"Why did you run off when I tried to tell you about the Tournament?" Hermione asked back, although she didn't mean to sound so reproachful.

"You lied to me" Ron simply answered, concentrating again on his task with the broomstick.

"I …, I …," Hermione sputtered perplexed. How did he know? She bit her lower lip and wondered if she could trust him with the truth.

"Is that all?" Ron started to get annoyed again.

"I didn't lie about the book …," Ron rolled his eyes exasperated, on the verge of throwing her out. "…, I …, I just lied about the whereabouts of the book …, I had to"

Ron was at the end of his tether and therefore not in the mood for more of her tall tales, but he asked anyhow "All right, where did you find the book then?"

"Promise me, you won't tell anyone," Hermione pleaded anxiously, tears were starting to form in her eyes now.

There was so much fear in Hermione's voice that Ron was momentarily taken aback. But it also piqued his curiosity "I won't" he said softly. "I promise"

Hermione didn't know why, maybe it was something in his voice or the way he was looking at her, but suddenly she was sure that she could trust him.

She took a deep breath and sat down on a chair opposite Ron, then started her story.

"Before I came here, I was owned by the Malfoy family. I used to sneak into their library and read the books there. That's were I found it, Hogwarts: A History. It's a very old book but I don't think anyone took it of it's shelf in forever. I swear it was all in there, the whole issue of the Tournament."

Ron slowly exhaled the breath he had started to hold when she mentioned the Malfoy's library and wondered if that really could be the truth.

"You do realise that what you just told me could bring you to the gallows?" Ron asked perplexed.

Hermione gave an artificial laught then said hoarsely. "Yes I do, I actually do."

"Then why did you do it?" Ron asked astonished, she had the nasty habit to constantly confuse him and he didn't like that at all.

"To make a change." She answered just as simply as he had before, but then smiled at him. "Augusta Longbottom and your father seem to think that you could achieve that if you would become sovereign. So if that's true, it's my obligation to help you with that."

Ron scrutinised her for a moment then said quietly and rather serious. "They tortured you, didn't they? The Malfoys I mean. That's why my father rescued you, right?"

Hermione gulped and turned away from him. "They found out I was sneaking into their library. They even suspected me to read the books, but they have no prove of that, or have the slightest idea how much time I truly spent there. I would have been dead before your father could help me, if they knew."

Ron nodded in understanding. "Come on, let's find Harry, he has to hear about the Tournament too." Ron was already half through the door, when he noticed that she didn't follow.

"You promised not to tell anyone where I found the book, remember?" Hermione reminded him worriedly. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to tell him after all.

"Yeah, I do." Ron reassured her smiling, "and I won't. But Harry probably wants a change for Hogwarts more than anyone at the Burrow, so if you trust me you certainly can trust him."

Hermione nodded convinced and they both went down to find Harry.

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><p><strong>If you want to make me happy, don't forget to review! I simply love your reviews ;-)<strong>


	5. Rules, Tasks and the four Wizards

**So here is chapter 5. Not as long as the last one, but full of information about the upcoming Tournament. Enjoy!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>5<strong>**. Rules, Tasks and the four Wizards**

Ron and Hermione found Harry in the shed, mending a broom of his own. He looked up and was more than surprised when he saw them walking in together. Both with huge smiles on their faces and for once, neither fighting nor angry with each other.

"Harry," Ron called agitated. "You have to hear this. It's incredible."

Hermione shushed him happily and looked around, making sure they were alone.

"Right." Ron said a bit quieter, looking over his shoulder too, "we don't want to be overheard."

"Care to tell me what's going on?" Harry asked inquisitive, intrigued by their unusual behaviour.

"Of course we do, but not here." Ron beamed.

"We could go back to your room," Hermione suggested.

"Nah, it's not save there, one of my siblings could sneak around and listen in on us, there are just too many of them to keep an eye on each."

"My room then." Hermione shrugged.

Ron considered the offer for a moment, "Yeah, sounds all right."

Harry had followed their conversation with growing interest, what happened between them, that they actually talked like normal persons with each other and what was this big secret they tried to hide? Of course he suspected it had something to do with the book about the Tournament Hermione mentioned earlier, but why did Ron believe her now and why were they so secretive about it. Well, he probably would hear about it soon.

x

So the three of them sneaked up to Hermione's room in the servant's quarters.

Ron surveyed the door suspiciously after they've closed it. "Damn, there are spells to make sure we can't be overheard, but I don't know them."

"I think it's fine now, I mean it's not like we're amidst enemies or so, I just thought it's better when no one knows about the book and it's whereabouts beside us yet."

"Suit yourself," Ron said nonchalantly and dropped down on Hermione's bed, getting comfortable. "So can we begin now?" he asked impatiently.

Harry nodded eagerly and sat down on the only chair inside the room, which left Hermione to pick between the floor and sitting next to Ron on the bed. Somewhat disconcertingly, she chose the latter.

After Harry had been briefly filled in on the background story of the book, the two boys looked at Hermione expectantly, anxious to finally find out about its contents. Hermione drew a deep breath and began to retell the story.

"The Quaternary Tournament was established about a thousand years ago by the four greatest wizards of that time: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Huffelpuff and Salazar Slytherin.

Their motivation behind it was, to make sure, that Hogwarts always had a leader who could meet up to their expectations and combine most of their requested virtues.

Based on that background they came up with the idea that young wizards should prove their suitability in a competition.

To identify, if a contestant possesses any of those virtues they had to undergo four tasks, each on behalf of one of the four great wizards."

"First mentioned in the book was the task of Godric Gryffindor. He valued bravery, boldness, nerve, daring and chivalry, so his task revolves, of course, around these qualities.

Next was Rowena Rawenclaw, who wanted to make sure that the new ruler was keen-witted and with a broad mind. So her intention was it to test the partaker's cleverness in her task.

Salazar Slytherin on the other hand was power-hungry and wanted to see this feature in the chosen young wizard or witch as well. For this reason, the contestants should pass his task with cunning and determination.

And lastly, there was Helga Hufflepuff. She cherished hard work and liked the Hogwarts sovereign to be true, fair, patient and loyal."

"It was decided that the participants were given four month, to demonstrate as many of these virtues by solving the tasks as they pleased. Finally, on the last day of the Tournament an impartial magical force, imbedded in an old hat, chooses the wizard who proved most eligible."

"How the hell do you know all that?" Ron exclaimed amazed, after Hermione had finished her recount.

"I told you; that was all in the book," Hermione said a bit forcefully, slightly annoyed that Ron still seemed to doubt her.

"Yeah I know, but how can you memorize all of this?" Ron clarified admiringly.

Hermione blushed, flustered both by her misconception and his highly unexpected compliment, "I don't know…, I just do."

"So …," Harry said thoughtfully, "what exactly have you to do in these tasks? Does the book say something about that?"

"Well, like I said, there are different ways to accomplish the tasks," Hermione came back to the topic. "The book suggested several possibilities to display the appointed virtues, but if you have another idea to demonstrate them, you're free to do so."

"What does the book say about Gryffindor's task?" Ron asked excitedly, as that task sounded to be the most interesting in his opinion, he really liked to be seen as a brave and bold person.

"Based on what other contestants have done beforehand, you could tame a dragon, fight trolls or giants or try to get the venom of an Acromantula."

Ron's face fell and went rather pale. "Are you kidding me? Acro – thingy, aren't that those giant spiders?" he gulped. When Hermione nodded he went on, "there is no bloody chance I'm going to do that one."

Harry, who looked equally upset said, "The other possibilities don't sound very appealing too, if you ask me. Giants, Dragons and Trolls," he shock his head, "no way."

Ron nodded wildly in agreement. The Acromantula might be his worst case scenario at the moment, but he wasn't keen to meet any of those other creatures either.

"Although, maybe Charlie can help you with the dragon," Harry suggested half-heartedly, "he deals with them every day, doesn't he?"

"He fights them, he doesn't tame them," Ron said forlorn, "there must be another way to show ones bravery."

Hermione sighed "Well, of course there is! I just told you, there are many ways to deal with the tasks. I just recited what, according to the book, other contestants have done to win."

A bit of colour returned on Ron's face, maybe everything wasn't lost yet. "Right …, eh, what about the other tasks then?"

"For Rowena Ravenclaw's task the book suggests the invention of new potions and spells or breaking through magical obstacles." Hermione went on. "You also can attempt to find one of the great wizards lost treasures."

"Their lost treasures?" Ron asked perplexed. "I never heard of them."

"Big deal, you didn't even know about the four wizards a few minutes ago, how could you know about their treasures." Harry mocked, which earned him a scowl from Ron.

"I wouldn't recommend that anyway, it's merely a legend that those treasures exist at all, although many contestants wasted a lot of precious time in finding them." Hermione said contemptuously.

"Yeah well, but what are they?" Ron asked eagerly.

"No idea," Hermione answered to Ron's utter disappointment, "there was no further explanation about them, which I think proves that they're not genuine."

"Damn, this would have been the thing I would have aimed for," Ron cursed gloomily. "I've got no idea how spells are invented and I'm absolute abysmally in potion making, let alone create a new on.

Besides I bet you everything that this is exactly what Draco Malfoy is going to do, with all these brilliant wizards teaching him all his life. And not to forget, he has Severus Snape on his side, accordingly the best Potioneer in at least a century."

Harry and Hermione both looked at him sympathetically, while Ron further brooded over the task.

"What's Slytherin's task?" Harry asked at last, breaking the pondering silence.

"That's the task I like least," Hermione said rather disgusted. "According to the book the best way to master this one is by overpowering independent magical creatures such as centaurs, goblins or mermaids and bend them to the wizards will."

"What's wrong with it?" Ron asked perplexed. "That's the _only_ way to deal with them, isn't it?"

"What's wrong with it?" Hermione repeated indignantly. "How can you even say that? Everything is wrong about it. Just because you have the power to subdue other magical beings, doesn't mean it is the right thing to do."

Ron huffed and brushed her off rudely. "It's not like they are innocent, is it? They can look after themselves, can't they?

They have killed at least as many of us, as we have off them, they are not some fluffy little creatures who need protection, they are dangerous Hermione and they hate us wizards, so overpowering them is the only way to put them in their places." Ron finished after talking himself into rage.

Hermione looked at Ron in shock and disbelief. For a moment she had forgotten that Ron was still a Pureblood after all and was obviously alright with such a treatment.

"So maybe they can look after themselves and there has been bad blood on both sides, but that still don't give you the right to subjugate them. If you do that, you're not better than the Malfoy's." She said despisingly, while glaring daggers at Ron, who glared back, outraged at her comparison with the Malfoys.

Alarmed Harry interrupted the dicey situation. "You haven't told us about Hufflepuff's task yet Hermione."

"Right," Hermione said a bit startled, she threw Ron a last furious glare then continued. "Hufflepuff. That one is a bit tricky. You see, in the old days the realm of Hogwarts was divided into small communities, so this task generally involved finding a solution of a magical conflict within or between those communities, but nowadays this job belongs to the regime."

"So what should you do nowadays then?" Harry asked, because Ron was still fuming and sulking.

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, "Hufflepuff valued hard worker as much as justice, so maybe you have to study the laws, so that you'd be able to use them correctly."

"All of them?" Ron cried overwhelmed, totally forgetting he was angry with Hermione. "There must be hundreds of them and that are just the newer ones, I don't even want to know how many ancient wizarding laws can be added to that number."

"Yeah well, like I said, it's just a guideline of what you could do." Hermione said, trying to sound not too resentful, although she hadn't forgotten or forgiven their former argument yet.

The room fell silent once more, as everyone thought about ways to master the tasks.

x

"Great!" Ron exclaimed after a while sarcastically. "So according to the book all I have to do is tame a dragon, enslave a few centaurs or goblins, invent a new potion and learn the entire laws of Hogwarts by heart along the way. "He took a deep breath. "Who would have thought it would be that easy."

"At least you don't have to do it alone" Hermione proclaimed conciliatory.

"What's that supposed to mean? Of course I have to do it alone if I want to win." Ron said puzzled.

"No you don't, you're allowed to accept as much help as you like." Hermione contradicted.

"But that's ridiculous, how can you win the Tournament when someone else does all the work?" He argued back. She was doing it again, Ron thought bitterly, confusing him on purpose.

Hermione sighed. "Of course you probably can't win when someone else does ALL the work, although it's not entirely impossible."

"But how?" Harry asked. He had accepted the revelation just as perplexed as Ron.

"Persuading people to do your bidding is some form of leadership as well and therefore suits the virtues of Salazar Slytherin," Hermione explained, "which means that if there's nobody else featuring more virtues than you do, you win."

"Perfect! Then I just lay back and wait, maybe I'll be lucky and win." Ron said happily and did just that, he let himself fall backwards on Hermione's bed, folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

Hermione watched him for a moment. How could it be that one moment he was the most annoying prat ever and she fantasised about strangling him and shortly after she wanted to comfort him?

A toll from the main house, announcing dinner time, startled them all out of their reverie. As if by command, Ron's stomach gave a huge rumble.

He sat up again. "Well, I guess we better get over for dinner then, before they send out a search party. We still can talk later."

xxx

Later that night, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the servant's quarters, with the Tournament still on their minds.

"Just assuming that Ron could win the Tournament and is chosen to be the next sovereign, what is stopping the council of sacking him right away?" Harry asked concerned. "Do you know anything about that?"

"The new sovereign has at least one year to prove himself before he can be replaced," Hermione answered promptly.

"During this time he can appoint up to three new council members if he wishes. That way he has, if he chooses wisely, at least those three members on his side at the end of the year, which means he can't be sacked, as it requires all members for doing that.

On the other hand, the new sovereign has no power to make any huge changes in that first year. Every decision has to be approved by at least three quarters of the council."

"But meanwhile I'm not so sure I want Ron to win the Tournament at all." She added yet.

"Why?" Harry asked astounded. Ron and Hermione have seemed to be fine just minutes ago, so he didn't understand where her sudden change of heart came from.

"You heard what he said about the centaurs, goblins and mermaids. I only can imagine what he truly thinks about Muggles and how they should be treated." Hermione voiced her concerns, curious what Harry's opinion on the matter was, as he hadn't said anything earlier about it.

Harry smiled at her, "Believe me Hermione, Ron would never really use his powers to subdue anyone and certainly not another human being."

"Then why does he always say things like that? "Hermione asked confused. "Shouldn't he know better?"

"No, actually I don't think he does." Harry admitted.

Hermione looked at him in utter disbelief. "But that can't be true! Ron simply has to know it's wrong how Muggles are treated" she flared up. "I mean, if I understood him correctly, Master Weasley deals with the mistreatment of Muggles every day.

So would you please explain to me how on earth his own son isn't aware of the situation!" she demanded. "Besides, Ron only believed me earlier, when I mentioned the Malfoys and he even asked me if they tortured me, so he obviously does know about it"

"Well, it's common knowledge that the Malfoys mistreat all their servants, and not solely the Muggles." Harry confirmed. "But I don't think that Arthur really talks about this part of his job. Well, I imagine he tells Molly a bit and probably his older sons too, but I doubt Ron and Ginny know much of this ugly side. And it's not like they would ask voluntarily about it."

"Okay, maybe, but that still doesn't explain his total ignorance," Hermione countered. "Shouldn't he be able to notice these things by himself? I mean it's not like he's locked up in a cage."

"I'm not so sure this is true, to be honest. Ron might not be living in a cage, but I don't think he actually has an idea what is really going on outside the Burrow." Harry said thoughtfully, then tried to explain Ron's point of view further to her.

"You have to understand that Ron's only social contacts are people, who don't treat Muggles like scum, like the Lovegoods, the Longbottoms and the Browns for example. And of course here at the Burrow he never even heard a bad word about them.

So I don't think Ron has ever seen a slave being mistreated. Of course he has heard stories about it, but I'm not sure he can actually comprehend the full meaning of the matter.

You see, because of their attitude towards Muggles, the Weasleys aren't the most respected family within the Purebloods and often looked down upon as well. So for Ron, Muggles are probably more on the same level as Halfbloods. Hence in a way, he does life in a cage."

Hermione thought about this for a while, maybe she was judging Ron to harshly after all. But she couldn't help but always feel hurt and defensive whenever he said those inappropriate things about Muggles, or in this particular case, other magical creatures.

At last she decided she would have to scrutinise him further to forge her final opinion about him.

* * *

><p><strong>So what do you think about the chapter? Are there still questions about the Tournament left? Did I make myself clear, explaining Ron's behaviour? <strong>


	6. Decisions

**Sorry for the delay, but I first had to write down a few scenes for later chapters, before they would slip my mind again.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>6. Decisions <strong>

"Do you think he is going to take part?" Hermione asked Harry anxiously.

"I don't know," Harry answered, wondering that himself.

Ever since Hermione had told them about the Tournament, Ron had become quieter and more serious with each passing day.

Eventually he stopped mentioning the Tournament at all, and every time Harry or Hermione tried to talk to him about it, he rebuffed them and returned to his brooding. That's why both speculated now, if he still wanted to attend altogether.

"Well, he better make up his mind soon," Hermione said. "The registration is going to take place in a week's time."

"I'll try to talk to him; yet again" Harry said determined. "But this time, I'll find out what's the matter with him for sure."

xxx

"Care to tell me what's wrong with you, lately?" Harry called after Ron sometime later that day, as he tried to catch up with him on his way to the broom shed.

Ron merely frowned at him and continued walking. "Nothing is wrong with me. What makes you think that?" he asked over his shoulder.

Harry stopped and looked at him incredulously. "Come off it, don't you think we have noticed your change in behaviour ever since Hermione told us about the Tournament?"

Blushing, Ron came to halt in front of the shed, one hand on the door handle. "It's nothing really; it's just that my perception of the whole matter is suddenly turned upside down. And I've a bit trouble coping with that."

Harry nodded in understanding and asked quietly. "So, does that mean you don't want to take part anymore?"

"I not so sure Harry, I really don't know what I should do." Ron confessed, avoiding Harry's eyes, but rather talked to the shed door. "For me the Tournament was always about the fame and glory, but I never actually thought about the tasks, to be honest. Of course I heard the stories, how dangerous the Tournament is and so, but I always had the impression that people would exaggerate a bit. But now …," Ron said forlorn, but at least turned around to face him now, "Harry, I _can't_ do this; I'm simply not _good_ enough to compete."

"What are you talking about? Of course you are good enough. You are already displaying a lot of the requested virtues, you're loyal and fair, not too stupid either …," Harry said and ignoring Ron's disbelieving snort, he continued. "Besides, Hermione and I won't let you do it alone, we'll be with you all the way."

Ron snorted again, "No offence Harry, but a Muggle and a Halfblood? How much help could you be?"

Harry starred at him aghast, trying his best to stay calm, 'he doesn't mean it like that' Harry told himself with gritting teeth, 'he is just nervous about the Tournament.'

Out loud he said somewhat constrained, "Maybe you haven't noticed but the _Muggle_ was the one telling you about the Tournament and who knows what else she had read in that library or anywhere else for that matter; and according to Remus Lupin, the _Halfblood_ is becoming pretty good with defensive spells lately.

You need us and we're willing to follow you, because we believe in you, even though you apparently don't. We are convinced that you've got a real chance of becoming the next sovereign and we want to help you with it."

Ron looked at him with a mixture of abashment and gratefulness. "Thanks Harry, I really appreciate this and I didn't mean it like that …, you know …, about the Muggle and the Halfblood." Harry nodded, he knew; but it was good to hear it from Ron nevertheless.

"But you forget that Draco Malfoy is still going to compete too. And he also is allowed to accept help, just like me. So it doesn't matter how many books Hermione has read or how good you've become with defensive spells; I'm sorry, but we're no real opponents against them.

All of us," he clarified. "Malfoy's subordinates are the best in their specific area throughout Hogwarts, we have no chance whatsoever against them."

And he trudged off with sagging shoulders, his chore in the broom shed apparently forgotten. Harry looked sadly after him.

xxx

"What do you mean he won't enter?" Hermione asked shattered. Harry had just told her about his conversation with Ron, and Hermione wasn't very happy about it either. "I thought that's what he dreamt about his whole life?"

"Yeah well, obviously he has changed his mind." Harry said frustrated. "He doesn't think he has a chance to win this."

Hermione contemplated this peace of information for a moment. "I guess it's my time to talk to him then."

"Good luck with that." Harry said sardonically. But before Hermione could even make one step away, he grabbed her arm yet and turned her back around.

"Don't start a fight with him though," he admonished her forcibly, "that wouldn't change his opinion in the slightest. By now you should know how stubborn he can be."

Hermione nodded, of course she knew, it was probably one of the first things she had learned about Ron. "I won't, I promise." She appeased him.

xxx

Hermione found Ron in front of the main house, busy bewitching a broom to sweep the courtyard for him. But apparently he wasn't very successful, as the broom clattered to the ground each time after only three strokes.

"I guess it would be more quickly, if you'd do it manual," Hermione advised good-natured, hoping against hope that he didn't misunderstand her intentions and thought she had tried to insult him.

And surprisingly, for once, he didn't. "Yeah I guess so," he sighed. "Stupid spell, I just don't seem to get the knack of it. The secret lies in the twirl of the wrist," he tried again with the same results, "ah well, never mind."

He put his wand away, picked up the broom and smiled at her.

Hermione smiled back and for a moment they became lost in the others eyes, until the sudden appearance of Fred and George brought them back to reality. Startled and rather sheepish they turned away from each other and focused on the new arrivals.

"Hey Ron," Fred and George shouted, sprinting over the courtyard towards them, "Guess who's coming over for dinner today."

Ron shrugged; he hadn't heard anything about having guests yet. "How should I know?"

"Your Lav-Lav" they sniggered.

"Don't call her that." Ron said annoyed. "Her name is Lavender. And for the record, she's not mine."

"Lavender?" Hermione asked curiously, she hadn't heard about her before, the whole three weeks she lived at the Burrow now. "Who is that?"

"Ron's girlfriend," Fred annotated mockingly.

"She's not" Ron cried out, blushing furiously.

"They are practically engaged" George sniggered.

"That's not true!" Ron exclaimed in a mixture of horror and anger, and avoided Hermione's eyes at any cost. "Just because we went to the festival _together_ doesn't mean we're _together_ now."

"Whatever you say, Ron" Fred put him off. "But aren't the two of you rather _friendly_ with each other since then?"

"Maybe that's because we're _friends_" Ron shot back hotly, the crimson on his face emphasising his current mood.

"Is that so?" George faked to consider the declaration, "well, you are friends with Neville and Luna too, but you don't go to festivals with them."

"Bugger off."

Laughing heartily at Ron's excuses and chagrin, the twins toddled off again.

"Ehm …, that's …, they are," Ron stammered embarrassed.

"It's alright," Hermione whispered hoarsely, "you don't have to explain yourself to me. It's not of my concern anyway."

"Yeah … well..." Ron trailed off. He still had the feeling he had to vindicate himself, but had no clue how to do it, so he let it go.

Hermione knew it really wasn't her business if Ron had a girlfriend or not, but for some reason this Lavender-girl bothered her immensely and even worse, she couldn't explain, why she was bothered by her.

All she knew was that it felt like someone had punched her in the stomach, as Fred and George mentioned her.

Ron and Hermione were standing only a few steps away from each other but too embarrassed to make eye contact; and the silence between them began to get rather uncomfortable.

x

"RONNIE" a shrill voice chimed across the courtyard only moments later. Ron and Hermione, startled for the second time within minutes, turned around. And while Hermione's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the owner of the voice, Ron's widened in horror.

"I thought she wouldn't come until dinner-time," he muttered displeased.

Lavender was running over to them and threw her arms around Ron's neck.

"Thank goodness you are not covered with this smelly stuff again." She exclaimed in delight and planted a kiss on Ron's blazing cheek.

He closed his eyes and wished he wouldn't be there or at least, that this scene wouldn't be witnessed by Hermione of all people.

To Ron's relief, she let go of him again. "Guess what, Ron," she said excitedly, jumping up and down.

"What?" he asked obediently, although he wasn't interested in the latest town's gossip at all.

"Sybill Trelawney said I'm the best seer she has ever trained in her life." Lavender squeaked blissfully.

"That's great." Ron said with fake enthusiasm. Even though he was happy for her, Ron couldn't understand her interest in Divination; he thought it was rather dull.

x

Hermione, who felt slightly sick by the happenings in front of her, couldn't suppress a huff.

Lavender looked around at the noise, frowned at her then turned back to Ron. "Who is this?" she demanded to know, seemingly noticing Hermione for the first time.

"Oh …, eh …," Ron spluttered, "she is no one really, just the slave my father bought."

The moment their eyes met Ron wished he hadn't looked at Hermione. He knew he had hurt her and quickly averted again.

Lavender scrutinised Hermione with a mixture of curiosity and annoyance. "What were you huffing at?"

Hermione glared one moment longer at Ron then at Lavender. "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic and true Seers are really rare. And they are born, not made. So if you don't possess the gift of divination, you can't be taught in the subject." Hermione ranted. "If you ask me, it's a rather woolly discipline actually."

Ron stared at her in disbelief and Hermione, quite shocked about her lecture, immediately bit her lip, afraid she had said too much.

Lavender on the other hand seemed not to have noticed the unusual knowledge about magic that Hermione had just displayed.

"Good no one asked for your opinion then." She spat icily, all her happiness gone.

Ron, sensing danger, quickly took Lavender's hand and pulled her away from Hermione. "I'm sorry for that, she doesn't know what she is talking about; she's just a Muggle after all."

Lavender only pouted sulkily and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Ron sighed. "Lavender, why don't you go inside the house, I'll be right there, I just have to take care of something yet." He said through gritted teeth, thinking about Hermione.

Reluctantly Lavender did as he asked, but it was clear that she wasn't satisfied with the dismissal at all.

x

Ron's look could almost be described as murderess and for the first time, Hermione really feared his reaction. He ungently grabbed her arm and dragged her in a more secluded corner of the courtyard.

There he spun her around and hissed fiercely. "For someone who wants to keep her knowledge about magic under tight wraps, you're very talkative. You're lucky Lavender didn't grasp the real meaning of your statement, because otherwise the whole town would know about it in no time."

Hermione drew a breath to fight back just as fiercely, but Ron cut her off.

"You don't get it do you? You are a _slave_ and nothing is ever going to change that." He spat at her venomously. "So you'll better get used to it and show those above you more respect. If you want to stay here at the Burrow you have to keep down, or even my father won't be able to help you anymore."

He let go of her and strode off. Hermione starred after him. She wasn't even angry anymore, she only felt completely numb. She let herself sank to the ground, covered her eyes with her hands and burrowed her face against her knees and started crying.

In this exact position, Harry found her, some time later.

xxx

Over the next three days Ron and Hermione neither spoke to each other or even acknowledged the others presence, when they met randomly around the Burrow. The Tournament seemed to be forgotten completely.

x

"Ah Hermione there you are. I was looking for you." Molly said. "Would you mind going the market for me? I run out of potion ingredients and I need some new ones."

"No, of course not Mistress Weasley, I wouldn't mind at all." Hermione said delighted, burning with curiosity. She had never been in Hogsmeade before, let alone went to the market there and was very keen to do so.

"Thank you so much my dear. I really don't have the time right now to go for myself. I made you a list of the things I need."

Molly handed her a parchment and Hermione quickly skimmed through it. On the list were all sort of fascinating things like fluxweed, knotgrass, root of asphodel and more. Hermione would have liked nothing more than ask for their uses, but kept quiet, Ron's warning now constantly on her mind.

"Here you have ten Sickles. That should be more than enough. Actually I don't think it's more than six Sickles, seven at the most." Molly elucidated the costs. Hermione listened intently and nodded her understanding.

"Do you know the way to town?" Molly asked yet, which Hermione denied. "It's quite easy to find, you just follow the path up to the crossroads, then you turn right and you'll be there in no time."

xxx

"You have to apologise to her," Harry urged.

"Me? No way," exclaimed Ron indignantly. "She is our slave Harry, I don't have to apologise. Besides, it's her own fault; she has to know better everything. Why can't she just keep her mouth shut for once?"

"Maybe we should ask your father then how to deal with the situation." Harry suggested, knowing that Arthur Weasley wouldn't tolerate such behaviour of his son.

"And tell him what? That Hermione is broadcasting she is reading books about magic? In front of Lavender nevertheless."

"You are afraid for her." Harry realised suddenly.

"What? …, Nooo!" Ron shouted appalled. "Of course I'm not; that's ridiculous. Why should I?"

"Yes you are; you are worried that someone could find about Hermione and take her away." Harry grinned knowingly.

Ron gaped at him totally baffled. "You're loosing it Harry. That's the most rubbish thing I've ever heard. To be honest, I can't even stand her. I was just keeping up with her because she knows about the Tournament, that's all."

But now Harry was absolute sure that Ron cared for Hermione.

xxx

"Have you seen Hermione," Ron asked his mother. He hadn't seen her the whole morning and, although he would never admit this to Harry, he started to worry. They might not be on speaking terms, but catching glimpses of her throughout the day consoled him somewhat.

"Yes dear, I sent her to the market a while ago to purchase some potion ingredients." Molly said cheerfully, "she should be back soon."

"Thanks" Ron muttered.

He sighed and bit his lower lip, should he wait or go after her. He wasn't very keen to go all the way to town, but didn't like the idea of her all alone there either. He wasn't sure why, but the latter thought disturbed him somehow.

xxx

For the first time in her life, Hermione went to the market. Fascinated she strolled from stall to stall. Now and then she lingered for a while to get a better look at the various merchandise.

There was simply everything: peculiar plants, funny magical creatures, all sorts of potions, strange objects for magic purpose and books, lots and lots of books.

x

Eventually Hermione stopped at a stall that sold potion ingredients. Behind the counter was a slightly unpleasant looking wizard. Hermione smiled uncertainly and handed him Molly's purchase list.

"Good morning, sir, my mistress would like me to buy these ingredients for her." She said politely.

With a nasty look at her the wizard took the list, using only the tips of his fingers as if it was contagious. He read it and began to fill some of his goods into a paper bag. When he was finished, Hermione reached for the bag, but the wizard hold it back with a smeary smile.

"First you have to pay. That's one Galleon for everything." He said very slowly and over-articulated as if she was dense.

Hermione gaped at him appalled. "But I've got only ten Sickles. My mistress said that would be enough."

"Are you calling me a liar?" the wizard shouted incensed. His sudden shouts were echoing over market place and attracted other customers to linger and watch the scene in front of them.

Hermione was distraught, it wasn't fair, she was only following orders, well requests actually, but still, she acted on the wishes of her mistress. She had even showed the required respect towards this … man. And now she was accused of being impudence of all things. "No sir, not at all …, but my mistress..."

"You dare to contradict me?" the wizard roared ominously. He threw the bag with the ingredients to the ground and pointed his wand at her.

Horrified, Hermione backed away a few paces and defensively raised her hands in front of her. Although she knew of course, that this gesture wouldn't help to deflect any curses directed at her. Tears started to run down her cheeks now. "Please sir, that wasn't my intention, I apologise, I ..."

"What the hell is going on here?" a familiar voice hollered behind her, sounding surprising authoritative.

xxx

After half an hour Ron had reached the town and another five minutes later he already shoved through the crowd on the market, searching for Hermione.

'Where is she?' he wondered. Having been only a few times on the market himself, Ron didn't know exactly where you could buy potion ingredients. That was more his mothers responsibility.

But he knew where to find the Longbottom's stall, having once spent an entire morning helping Neville sell their medical herbs and ointments. So that's where he headed now. Ron was sure that Neville or his grandmother would be able to help him.

x

Neville was busy explaining a deft old warlock what herbs he needed to brew an Anti-Warts-Solution, when Ron arrived.

Impatiently, Ron stepped from one foot to the other waiting for Neville to get finished; all the while craning his neck to look over the crowd for Hermione.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the old warlock paid and scuffled off.

"Ron!" Neville greeted him delighted. "What are you doing here?"

"Have you seen Hermione?" Ron blurted out at once, although he wasn't even sure if Neville knew who Hermione was.

"Hermione?" Neville wondered promptly. "Isn't that the Muggle-girl living with you at the Burrow?"

"Yes, have you seen her? She should be here somewhere."

"Sorry, no! But I don't really know what she looks like; I've just seen her once from afar." Neville apologised.

"Where can you purchase potion ingredients then?"

"Depends, what kind of ingredients are you talking about? Vegetational or faunal?"

"There are differences? Don't people sell both together?" Ron asked, running his hand through his hair in frustration.

"No, most don't." Neville explained. "There is only one who sells both, Jacob Selwyn, but you better hope she isn't there. That dork hates Muggles, so I don't know what would happen if she crossed his path."

That alarmed Ron immensely. Knowing Hermione, this sounded like the exact place she would go to, and he felt rather unsettled all of a sudden.

"Where is Jacob Selwyn's stall?" he asked hurriedly, deciding to check his place first.

"I'll show you," Neville offered at once, he waved his wand and muttered a spell to prevent his goods from being stolen. "Come on"

x

They already heard the shouts from a distance. There was some kind of commotion near to Selwyn's stall and Ron suspected the worst. Therefore he increased his pace even more.

And there she was. A wizard, apparently Jacob Selwyn, was pointing a wand in her face, while she was trying to protect herself with her bare hands.

"Please sir, that wasn't my intention, I apologise, I ..." she pleaded crying.

Without thinking Ron drew his wand too and sprinted over to her, with Neville close on his heels.

"What the hell is going on here?" he hollered.

Selwyn rounded on Ron now and said menacing "This none of your business boy, so stay out of this, if you know what's good for you."

Ron didn't know why, but now that the wand wasn't aiming on Hermione anymore, he felt surprisingly calmer.

He straightened up, squared his shoulders and said more confident than he felt. "Actually this _is_ my business, as you're assaulting _my_ slave." Simultaneously he took a few steps to the right, blocking Hermione from Selwyn's reach that way.

"Your slave?" Selwyn laughed and the people around them joined in. "Is that so? Well, _your _slave here accused me of lying, so now I'm going to punish her for that."

Everyone laughed even harder and suggestions on how to best punish a slave were shouted towards them from among the crowd.

Ron felt sick. How could anyone be so cruel? He heard Hermione crying behind him and gazed at the bitchy crowd in front of him. Ron had never been so scared in his life before and that although he knew that he at least wasn't in danger.

He could only imagine what Hermione was feeling right now, after all, the hatred and the threats of how correctly punishing slaves were directed towards her not him. He could just walk away and be safe, if he wanted to.

"Don't you dare and touch her" Ron said through gritted teeth and held his wand a bit firmer. His sweaty hand betrayed his featured bravery.

"And what are you going to do, you little twerp? All alone by yourself?" Someone called, which was greeted with more laughter.

"He isn't alone!" Neville said and stepped beside Ron, his wand raised also. Ron gave him a grateful side glance then focused on the mob in front of them again.

"How cute, another little boy is trying to defend the filth." A woman in the front row screeched.

"Make that four." All of a sudden, Fred and George appeared and flanked Ron and Neville.

Some of the people in the crowd obviously recognised Fred and George; they sometimes entertained the customers on the market with little jokes and pranks and earned some money this way. And soon the name Weasley could be heard whispered among the rabble.

Apparently not so keen to have a contention with Arthur Weasley himself, the assemblage began to break up, as the first people rushed off.

At last only Jacob Selwyn, the Weasleys, Neville and Hermione remained behind. Selwyn glinted fiercely at them. "You still have to pay for the potion ingredients," he demanded.

Ron threw him a venomous look and said. "We're not buying here." And he grabbed Hermione's arm and steered her away. The others followed suit.

xxx

"Are you okay? What happened?" Ron asked concerned after they had left the town. Hermione nodded and explained the situation.

"Bastard" Ron spat out and Fred, George and Neville nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for helping me," Hermione mumbled sheepishly.

Ron glanced at her then said. "Forget about it. Luckily we were there in time."

After that they all spoke very little. Still a bit rattled from the happenings on the market, each was lost in their own thoughts. When they reached the crossroads Neville said good bye, and the rest of the group took the path towards the Burrow.

All but Ron, who suddenly stopped and remained ossified in the middle of his next step.

"You coming?" George asked him puzzled.

Ron, who had been deep in thoughts looked up at him and blinked confused, then seeing the others expecting faces caught on what George must have asked him.

"Ehm, no! Take her home, will you. I've got something else to do" he said mysteriously and already sprinted back in direction of the town, while still speaking.

"What's gotten into him?" George asked even more puzzled, but the other two only shook their heads, being none the wiser.

xxx

"Charlie I need your help!" Ron said breathlessly. He had run all the way from the crossroads to the Dragon-Fighter quarters near Hogwarts Castle.

"Sure, what can I do for you?" Charlie said good natured, although a little surprised by Ron's sudden appearance. He usually never visited Charlie here at work.

"You have to help me tame a dragon." he panted, clutching a stitch.

"I … what? You've got to be kidding me." Charlie started to laugh, but stopped at once when he noticed Ron's serious face. "Forget it, that's impossible"

"Why?"

"You would never get near enough to actually even try to tame one. Dragons are vicious and rather intelligent creatures Ron, they can't be bewitched easily and when you do, it's always hurtful for the Dragon.

He won't ever forget or forgive you for that, so he would have to stay under the enchantment forever, if you plan to keep him near you. He might seem to be tamed, but he really isn't and the moment the bewitchment ends, you'll be in mortal danger." Charlie explained explicitly then frowned at Ron. "What do you want with a tame dragon anyway?"

"Never mind that" Ron said sadly and somewhat disappointed.

He turned to leave, but Charlie held him back on the arm. "Is this about the Tournament again? You can't honestly still be thinking about taking part."

Ron looked him in the eyes and said intensely. "Someone has to do _something,_ or Draco Malfoy will be the next sovereign of Hogwarts and I don't want that to happen."

"What's gotten into you?" Charlie asked bewildered.

Ron didn't even attempt to answer his question. "Can you help me or not?"

"No I can't. But even if I could, I wouldn't do it. This isn't some kind of child's play Ron. People have died in this Tournament." Charlie lectured him angrily.

"So what?" Ron shouted agitated. "Even more people are going to die if Draco Malfoy becomes the next sovereign. And if I have any chance to prevent that, I will, and no one is going to stop me."

* * *

><p><strong>I know, still no Tournament, but I wanted to make sure that Ron will enter for the right reasons and not for fame and glory. <strong>

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter none the less! If so, or not, tell me please!**


	7. The Tournament begins

**So, I guess that's what you're waiting for, the Tournament is finally here :-)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>7. The Tournament begins<strong>

Ron and Hermione hadn't talked further about what happened on the market. They had come to a silent agreement to not mention it or their fight beforehand.

Ron wasn't talking much to Harry or Hermione at all for that matter and kept on brooding like before that day, but now he wasn't miserable or forlorn anymore but rather showed a strange kind of determination.

Harry and Hermione had noticed this of course and speculated among themselves what this was about, but they didn't ask him. They figured that if he wanted to talk about it, he had to make the first step now; they at least were tired to run after him and ask about his mental state.

x

Meanwhile the atmosphere in Hogsmeade has tensed, since everyone became more and more excited as the Tournament drew nearer. Unfortunately some people released their tension by picking fights, which ended more often with injuries now.

This occurred mainly between the younger folks who planned to enter the Tournament. They seemed to think duelling before the official start might discourage their opponents and enhance their chances to win. But now and then the fighters were significantly older and consisted of parents who got into an argument whose child had better chances to win.

That's why throughout Hogwarts people started to fear for their families because of that. Especially Molly Weasley was troubled by the new developments. If she had her way, all her children plus Harry and Hermione would be constricted solely to the Burrow until the Tournament was over.

"Calm down Molly," Arthur attempt to appease her, "I know it sounds bad, but they can't do any real harm to each other. You know the ancient laws prohibit the use of dangerous spells against another witch or wizard without sufficient reason. And I don't think that planning to take part in the same competition counts as such, to be honest."

"Still, the injuries Augusta has mentioned …," Molly began.

"…, aren't dangerous," Arthur finished for her, "they might not look very pretty, but they heal in no time. Besides, none of our children is going to be part of the Tournament anyway, so there would be no reason at all to turn on them. They should be safe."

xxx

It was the day before the sign up for the Tournament, which was coincident with its beginning; and Ron still hadn't told anyone about his plans to enter. Well, Charlie knew of course, but maybe he thought Ron didn't really mean it, because he hadn't mentioned it yet to anyone else.

Ron, Harry and Hermione were sitting on the bench before the main house, too sluggish to do anything else on this hot day at the beginning of July. Ron lazed about, his eyes closed against the dazzling sun, while Harry told them about his last defensive practice with Lupin.

"…, and with Impedimenta spell you can slow things down, while stupefy is used to stop them completely."

"Do you think you can show me those spells?" Ron asked sleepily.

"I guess so, why?"

"Oh, I just thought they might come handy when I join the Tournament," he yawned.

Surprised both Harry and Hermione looked at him. "You're going to enter?"

With some difficulty Ron propped one eye open and blinked at them. "Course I do, after what happened on the market …," he trailed off; he didn't have to finish anyway, they understood. Harry nodded consenting and Hermione blushed sheepishly but was also rather pleased with this new development.

"Did you tell your parents about your plans?" Hermione asked concerned.

Ron shook his head. "No, they don't want me to enter, so I'm not going to tell them until I'm in. That way they can't do anything about it. You've said it yourself, Hermione, if you sign the parchment you constitute a binding, magical contract, which means once you've entered you can't withdraw anymore."

"You're going to be in trouble for that." Harry grinned.

"Probably," Ron shrugged. "But there won't be much they can do about, so in the end they have to accept my decision and hopefully support me."

Ron slumped down and closed his eyes once more and they fell silent again.

x

"I'm going to tell Neville" Ron declared after a while. "What we know about the Tournament" he clarified at Harry and Hermione's puzzled expressions.

"You do?" Harry asked astonished.

"He is my friend; I really shouldn't let him go on without knowing any details. Not that he would back out anyway, his grandmother would never forgive him for that, but at least he should know what he's up to."

"Don't worry," Ron added with a glance at Hermione, "I'm not going to tell him how I know about this. Neville knows I would never lie to him about something important like that. He'll believe me without me revealing you."

xxx

After a restless night, Ron woke up very early the next morning. He met with Harry and Hermione in the courtyard and together they sneaked off, which was a bit tricky in case his mother would catch them. She had a kind of sixth sense for her children's wrong doing.

Neville was waiting for them on the crossroads. Ron had not only told him about the Tournament but had also offered Neville to join him, Harry and Hermione on the quest. Relieved and immensely grateful Neville had agreed at once; and so now the four of them were on their way to Hogwarts Castle together.

In Ron's opinion it was only appropriate that they, as a foursome, would compete in the Fourwizard Tournament. And the addition of Neville's knowledge about medical plants could prove very useful as well.

x

When they reached the castle they were greeted by a gigantic queue, consisting of seemingly hundreds of young witches and wizards around their age.

"Bloody hell" Ron exclaimed in shock and halted a moment in his track. "I didn't know there would be so many."

Neville's eyes widened and he paled. "Do you think they are all going to enter?" Ron only nodded.

"I think it's better if we wait here for you." Harry said with a concerned side glance at Hermione. Ron followed his gaze and agreed. "I'll see you later then."

xxx

Ron and Neville lined up behind a hulk of a man, he was packed with muscles and over-towered even Ron by at least two heads.

"I can't believe he is really twenty-five or younger" Ron whispered into Neville's ear. "Looks more like thirty-five to me."

The queue was patrolled by the Defence-Wizards of Hogwarts Castle. Which was quiet lucky, because from time to time, arguments could be heard, or even fights broke out between the waiting people.

Excruciatingly slow the queue moved toward the castle entrance. Ron nervously staggered from one foot to the other, while Neville, beside him, has started to tremble uncontrollably and seemed incapable of taking another step at all. So maybe it was a good thing that they only edged ahead; that way Neville wasn't left behind.

xxx

Three hours later, they were finally there. Ron had been to Hogwarts Castle before, as half his family worked here, but he had never been in the Great Hall or the rest of its main sections. This was the place where the council held its meetings and where big decisions were made; and once a year the Yule ball was held here as well. But, particularly to his mother's disappointment, the Weasleys had never been invited to it.

The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, floating in midair and the ceiling resembled the sky outside; today a murky grey. Enthralled Ron tried to take in all at once; even Neville stopped trembling and curiously look around.

On the other end of the hall was a some kind of platform and in its middle was some kind of throne in which the sovereign was seated.

On the right side of the platform was a desk positioned with a severe looking wizard behind it; and the queue was leading directly toward it. Apparently this was the place were you had to register yourself for the Tournament.

Two people were standing next to the desk. Ron recognised them at once as Lucius Malfoy and his son Draco. They overlooked the proceedings and Ron was sure they were sizing up the contestants for any real competition. The smug expression on Draco's face betrayed his certainty of victory.

Every contestant had to give his name to the scribe, who looked it up in a book, probably to check if the contender truly was a Pureblood and had the required age. After the scribe confirmed the statements, the contender had to register himself by writing his name on a roll of parchment.

As they reached the desk, Ron gave Neville a little push and an encouraging nod. After Neville had with some difficulty signed the parchment, his hand was shaking rather badly, it was Ron's turn.

When he walked up the platform, Lucius sneered nastily at him and said to the scribe. "No need to ask for this one's name. He's a Weasley."

"What kind of competition could you provide boy?" he turned on Ron disdainfully. "Have you even learnt how to hold a wand correctly? That is if your parents were able to afford a wand at all." There was a lot of laughter from all around them and Ron blushed furiously.

"We'll see!" he said sternly, snatched the quill out of the scribe's hand and quickly signed the parchment. He didn't wait for another taunt of Lucius or anyone else, but immediately left the platform and joined the growing crowed of registered contestants.

x

After everyone had finished writing their names on the parchment, they all stood around waiting; expectantly looking over to the sovereign and wondering what might happen next.

After some excruciating and suspense-packed minutes, Abraxas Malfoy finally raised from his throne-like chair. The mumble and murmur among the crowd died away as everyone entranced awaited his speech.

Abraxas waited until he had the audience' full attention; then cleared his throat. "My highly esteemed contestants, it's my pleasure to see such a number of young witches and wizards assembled to take part in this legendary Tournament. I wish you all the best of luck."

And with that he went off the stage; a sniggering Draco and a sneering Lucius followed suit. Ron gaped after them in disbelief as they deserted the platform, and he wasn't the only one.

Although there were at least a hundred people around, the stillness was deafening. No one said a word or even moved for that matter, as if they all were paralysed and silenced. Then all of a sudden chaos broke loose. There was a lot of shouting and cursing and some people actually send hexes toward the door behind which the Malfoys had disappeared.

Ron and Neville didn't join the tantrum; they still were more startled then angry.

"Can you believe them?" Neville asked in a hushed voice. "They didn't say anything about the Tournament."

Ron pressed his lips together and screwed up his face, thinking. "So that's how the Malfoys won the Tournament two times in a row," he finally said through gritted teeth, "by holding back _any_ information about the Tournament. I mean, I knew they wouldn't reveal everything, but this is just disgraceful. No one but them has any clue what do next. Nobody knows about the required virtues, that have to be displayed during the Tournament, so with any luck no one will prove more worthy then Draco Malfoy in the end. Those stupid bastards." He finished utterly disgusted.

How was that even fair? For a moment Ron actually contemplated to enter the stage and tell everyone what he knew, but scrapped this idea at once. No one would believe him anyway.

All around him, Ron now heard the wildest speculations, of what one had to do in the upcoming four month.

To silence his conscience, Ron eventually joined in these speculations. He told everyone in vicinity, what _he_ had heard you had to do to win. Just Slytherin's task he mentioned only vaguely.

Up to a certain point he could understand Hermione's opinion about the handling of other magical creatures better now; although Centaurs, Goblins and Mermaids couldn't be viewed like Muggles of course. They _had ways_ to defend themselves and they were very skilled at that either. But Ron liked being on speaking terms with Hermione again too much to provoke another argument about the matter. So he only told the other contestants about Slytherin's valued virtues and not how they might be proved.

With some satisfaction he noticed that his version of the Tournament spread out within minutes. That was all he could do; now it was up to them, they either believed him or not.

xxx

They found Harry and Hermione under nearby a tree. Agitated Neville and Ron told them what happened. Both Harry and Hermione reacted the same way as Ron and Neville had, with a mixture of disbelief and infuriation.

"Those …, those …," Hermione angrily searched for a bad enough word to describe the Malfoys.

"…, complete arseholes." Harry helped her out.

"Sadly their plan isn't going to work," Ron said grinning, "I told everyone who would listen what they have to keep in mind if they want to win the Tournament."

Harry and Hermione starred at him in shock.

"You did what?" Harry asked totally bewildered. "Why in Merlin's name would you do something like that?"

Ron looked rather sheepish then, his ears burning red. "Well, Helga Hufflepuff wants me to be fair, doesn't she?" he asked a little unsure now. Harry and Hermione both nodded.

"Yeah, and those idiots left us with no information whatsoever. I figured the more people know what to do, the more likely it is one of us is going to win." Ron said heatedly, becoming more confident about his decision again.

"In the end, it's first and foremost about stopping the next sovereign to be a Malfoy again, right? The other contestants deserve this chance as much as I do, so I just did what is right and fair by telling them. Now it's up to the Sorting Hat again, to decide who's best for the job." He finished.

Hermione gave him an admiring look, but it went unnoticed by Ron, who was watching the parting crowd over at Hogwarts Castle and hoped he was really right with his decision.

x

"So, um …, Hermione …, what should we do now?" Ron asked, as they sauntered back home, and looked at her expectantly.

Hermione frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Well …, the Tournament has started now, right? So what happens next? What are we going to do about the tasks?"

"Eh …, we could …, um," Hermione stammered clueless. To be honest she hadn't really thought about it. It didn't seem to be necessary. Till yesterday her only concern was _if _Ron would enter at all and _how_ she and Harry could persuade him to do so.

"Let's talk about it later," she averted, hoping for a bit more time to come up with something, "in a more private place."

"Hermione?" Harry asked. "I just thought, if the sorting hat can detect the person's virtues, why do you still have to participate in the tasks? Shouldn't it be able to recognise them at once?"

Hermione smiled and took a deep breath; that was a question she could answer. "It's not as simple as that, Harry; you might already possess those virtues but you have to show them in the Tournament to make them count. The Sorting Hat is arranged to only judge your behaviour during those four month.

But as I already told you, you could just sit tight until the Tournament is over. Problem is the only virtues you're going to present then would be patience and endurance, which I don't think you'd come very far with."

At the crossroads they arranged to meet later that night to talk about their further steps. Neville would sneak out after his grandmother was asleep and join them in Hermione's room in the servant's quarters.

xxx

Ron and Ginny, who happened to be the unlucky ones today, were condemned to help Molly with the dinner preparation, when Arthur got home. He was very agitated as he bustled into the kitchen.

Astonished Molly looked up from her cooking, keen for an explanation. "What is it Arthur? What happened?"

"Havoc!" he simply said. "Mayhem, or whatever you want to call it. The whole town is upside down."

Ron let go of the potatoes he was supposed to peal and looked intently at his father instead. On the side he noticed his mother and Ginny doing the same.

"Why? What happened now?" he asked perplexed. This very morning, when he had signed up for the Tournament, everything had still been more or less in order.

"You know that the Tournament has started today?" Arthur asked unnecessarily, they all nodded and he went on. "Ever since then, the fights between the contestants have intensified immensely. And rumour has it, that they are able to cause real damage to their opponents now."

Ron drew a sharp breath at this revelation, Ginny gasped startled and Molly started to rant. "I knew something like that would happen, such a nonsense letting those children contest against each other in a grown up's competition like that. I've never understood why the partakers have to be so young."

"Because the founders thought that younger people wouldn't be as corrupted or narrow-minded as older people might be." Ron answered at once, exactly repeating Hermione's explanation for that circumstance. "I guess they were wrong."

Three astounded faces turned toward him.

"At least that's what I heard everyone speculating" Ron tried to fix the damage, avoiding his parent's eyes.

While Molly narrowed her eyes at Ron in irritation, Arthur nodded in agreement. "Makes sense, although I don't think that fits to the likes of Draco Malfoy. Anyway, I don't want the two of you anywhere near the town from now on."

"WHAT? NO!" Ginny flared up, "that's not _fair_! I'm not even old enough to be in the Tournament yet, so why should I stay at home?"

Ginny loved going to town. She had a lot of friends in Hogsmeade and therefore visited it almost daily.

Ron on the other hand had never been much of a townsman; he rather spent his time flying on his broomstick over the fields or little woods around the Burrow. But still, his lack of response and silent acceptance of Arthur's prohibition roused Molly's suspicion.

"You both are more or less at the right age and I don't want anyone mistake you lot as participants," Arthur explained calm but firmly and considered the matter as settled.

xxx

Naturally the Quaternary Tournament and its ramifications was also the main topic over dinner.

"Did you hear about what is happening in town right now?" Bill asked. "It's unbelievable."

"Horrible" Molly said aghast.

"What I don't understand is why they can hurt each other now," Arthur emphasised puzzled. "It's against the law after all."

Bill nodded. "I was wondering the same. And did you hear the new rumours that the tasks are really about demonstrating virtues?"

"Yes I have. And all day long people came to us with the intention of taming a dragon." Charlie said, while watching Ron closely. The latter blushed and practically buried his face into his plate as he shoved more food into his mouth.

Arthur shook his head in disbelief, "I'd really like to know what is going on."

"But till we know that, I want you all to be very careful. I already asked Ron and Ginny to not leave the Burrow anymore." Arthur informed his family and then addressed the twins.

"Fred, George, I know you're out of age but I like to implore you to stay away from town also; at least for the next few days. Hopefully those contentions will be over soon." He said insistently.

"Sure dad," Fred nodded nonchalantly shoving another bite of food into his mouth.

"We're freshly out of good jokes anyway, so we could need some time off to think up new one." George explained.

"And the current mood isn't very beneficial for our business either." Fred added yet.

Molly huffed, she wasn't very happy with her son's choice of occupation, but for once she didn't lecture them about it. She had more serious things to worry about at the moment.

"Thankfully none of our children is taking part in this hogwash." she sighed alleviated and Arthur put a soothing arm around her shoulder.

Ron, who had been abnormally quiet during the dinner, felt uneasy and a bit ashamed now for entering the Tournament behind his parent's backs. He knew he had to tell them sooner or later, but the recent events didn't make it any easier. Suddenly he couldn't eat one more bite but rather felt nauseated.

He cautiously glanced up from his plate and unfortunately looked directly in Charlie's inquiring eyes. Ron blushed again and quickly turned away.

"Mom, dad, I think Ron has something to tell you." Charlie said eventually, still piercing Ron with his stare.

Ron's head immediately shot up again and he glared at Charlie, who glared back. Both his parents watched their silent glaring contest for a moment then Molly asked sternly, with a sense of foreboding. "What did you do, Ron?"

Ron forced himself to look her in the eyes when he anxiously but nonetheless firmly said. "I entered the Quaternary Tournament today."

For a moment the room was plunged in stunned silence as everyone starred at Ron. But much too soon the volume was turned back on and Molly Weasley's voice shattered their eardrums.

"RONALD WEASLEY! HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING STUPIED LIKE THAT? HAVE YOU NO SENSE WHATSOEVER? THIS ISN'T SOME SILLY JOKE. THE TOURNAMENT IS DANGEROUS; **…**"

Molly's tirade seemed to last for hours, but at some point Ron simply blocked it out.

Although his mother screams were bad and Ron already felt like the most horrible person alive, the silent shock and disappointment on his father's face was even worse. Ron looked at him and pleaded with his eyes for understanding and forgiveness. And maybe, in the end, Arthur did understand him, because Ron had the impression there was also pride in his father's gaze now.

xxx

"Blimey that was scary. I thought she actually might explode of anger." Ron finished his account later that night.

Harry chuckled. "I'm really surprised she didn't lock you up in your room for good."

"Trust me, she tried. I had to escape through my window. Luckily I still had one of those battered brooms up there; or you could have gone on without me. Mind you, for a moment I thought I was a goner anyhow, the way that thing swayed. I barely could hold onto it."

Harry and Neville laughed out loud and even Hermione cracked a smile.

"So Hermione, did you come up with an idea what we should do now?" Ron asked cheerful after they had calmed down again.

"Yes I have." Hermione said. "I think we should go into the Forbidden Forest."

Both Neville and Ron starred at her in horror and disbelief. Harry looked rather concerned as well, in his time at the Burrow he had heard some unpleasant stories about the Forbidden Forest and wasn't so keen to find out their truth content at all.

"You can't be serious" Ron said indignantly. "That's suicide. Do you have any idea what kind of bloody beasts live in there?"

"Actually I do, and that's why we should go there." Hermione said unblinkingly. "It's the only place I can think of where you can try out several virtues at once ..."

"… and die in the process." Ron interrupted her. "I always suspected you're mental Hermione, but now I've finally prove of that."

"So it's settled then, the Forbidden Forest it is." Hermione said excitedly.

* * *

><p><strong>I have to admit, it wasn't my intention to bring Neville along or that Ron told the other contestants about the Tournament. That was all Ron's doing. He wouldn't rest until I agreed with him ;-) <strong>

**I hope you're okay with his decision as well.**


	8. Into the Forest

**I'm really sorry for the long wait, but here is chapter 8. **

**I'm not so sure about this chapter though, one moment I think, 'it's great, I really like it', and in the next I have my doubts abouts about it. But here it is, and now you can judge it :-)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>8. Into the Forest<strong>

They had decided to leave the Burrow three days later, which left them enough time to plan and get packed. That is, Harry, Hermione and Neville did the packing; Ron was kept the whole time under his mother's strict surveillance. Apparently she thought, if she locked him up in his room, she could prevent him from leaving.

After only one day of fighting back, Ron came to the conclusion to better obey his mother's will, and make her believe, that he regretted his decision to take part in the Tournament. And maybe that's why she missed the window and the old broomstick in his bedroom, so Ron was still able to sneak out at night. He knew it wasn't exactly fair to his mother, and that she only wanted him to be safe, but sadly she left him no other choice.

And so, on the third day, Ron escaped his 'prison' with a rather guilty conscience and rushed across the courtyard. Harry and Hermione were waiting in the shadow of the broom shed for him.

"Sorry for the delay," he whispered, "but I had to wait till everybody was asleep."

"It's fine," Harry whispered back, "Hermione and I were delayed too, Remus had trouble falling asleep as well." He handed Ron one of the backpacks. "But let us leave quickly now."

"I had a feeling you would leave tonight," a voice said behind them and almost scared them to death.

"Dad!" Ron gasped out relieved, but then a worried expression appeared on his face. "You're not trying to stop us, are you?"

"No, actually I wanted to say good bye." Arthur studied him with a sad smile on his face. "I'm so proud of you, Ron"

"Thanks," Ron muttered sheepishly, turning bright red. Now he felt even guiltier about his plan to leave without further notice. "Tell mum I'm really sorry, but I have to do this," he pleaded.

"I will …, "Arthur said. "Oh, I almost forgot, here," he thrust a bulging bag into Ron's arms, "these things might be helpful."

"Thanks dad." Ron mumbled heavy-heartedly. They looked at each other for a moment then Arthur gathered him in a very tight embrace. They stayed like this for a while, and after he had released Ron again, Arthur briefly embraced Harry and Hermione too. "Take care, all of you."

xxx

At the crossroads they waited once again for Neville. He should have been here already, but apparently he was also delayed.

It had already started to dawn, when a lone figure hastened in their direction. "My Gran was so excited about us going into the Forbidden Forest, she almost came along." Neville wheezed, as he finally reached them.

"What's all this?" Ron asked baffled, as he noticed the two large bags Neville dragged along.

"My Gran wouldn't let me go, without sufficient amounts of food and healing remedies," he explained.

Ron smiled delighted, "I truly love your Gran, Neville. Did she give you some of her delicious biscuits too?"

x

They didn't go far this night. The only reason for their late (or very early) departure had been to avoid Molly's detection, and so they camped in a little wood east of the Burrow.

They lit a fire and sat around it. Harry handed out some of Augusta's biscuits and Ron opened the bag his father gave him, to have a look inside.

He reached into it and the first thing he felt was a rectangular something. He grabbed it and pulled it out. "A book," Ron said puzzled and turned it over to read the cover. "Simple Spells for the Daily Use" He shrugged and passed it on to an eagerly waiting Hermione, who instantly opened it and began to read.

Ron glanced at her over the rim of the bag, shaking his head. He chuckled softly and went through the rest of the bags contents.

Beside the book, the bag contained more food, "at least we won't go hungry," Ron announced happily.

There was also a small purse with money, mostly Knuts and Sickles, but two Galleons were among them as well. With another guilty attack, Ron put the money aside and pulled the next item, a pocket knife, out. "What do we use that for?" he asked confused, but tucked it away into his trouser pocket anyway.

"I think, that's all," Ron said, looking into the bag, but to make sure he put his hand inside and groped around. "Wait, there is something else," he frowned and pulled out a yellowed, tattered and very old looking parchment.

"What's that?" Hermione asked, laid the book aside and leaned curiously over Ron's right shoulder. Harry and Neville approached him on left side.

"I don't know." Ron carefully unfolded the worn parchment. "I think …," he turned the parchment around. "I think it is a map. Is that Hogwarts?"

Hermione leaned a bit closer over the parchment. "Here," she pointed at the upper right corner, "that must be the Forbidden Forest. Gosh, I didn't realise it is that huge."

"And it's not even complete," Harry said, tracing the cut off margins of the map. "Looks like the forest reaches into the realm north of Hogwarts."

"Durmstrang," Ron whispered awestruck. "We'll better make sure we won't go there. The Durmstrangs sound like a very unpleasant lot and they aren't very fond of Hogwarts."

Hermione didn't say anything to this, but thought that Durmstrang could hardly be more unpleasant for Muggles than Hogwarts was at the moment.

They brooded a while longer over the map and discussed the best place to enter the forest. After that, and although it was reasonably light by now, they decided to get at least a few minutes sleep, before setting out for good.

xxx

"Consider Gryffindor's task to be done," Ron said, looking at the dark forest in front of them, "going into **that**, should count as brave enough."

The others nodded in agreement; this forest was the least welcoming place they've ever seen.

"Look who it is," someone said behind them. Startled they spun around. Draco Malfoy and a group of his cronies slowly approached them. He was wearing a nasty sneer together with a superior look.

At once, Ron moved unconsciously in front of Hermione, shielding her from the new arrivals with his own body. He, Harry and Neville raised their wands, ready to defend themselves, if necessary.

"What do you want?" Ron asked gruffly.

"Manners Weasley," Malfoy reprimanded him, and his cronies laughed. Ron only glared at him.

"So you think the lost treasures are hidden in the forest, don't you?" said Draco Malfoy, carelessly pointing with his wand in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ron said confused, trying to hide his surprise that Malfoy mentioned the treasures.

"Tell you what Weasley. You reveal everything you know about the treasures and you may become one of my attendants," Draco offered. "Do we have a deal?"

"Sorry," Ron said sarcastically. "But I don't know anything about your treasures, so I guess I have to reject your generous offer."

"Don't get smart with me, Weasley," Draco said menacing and pointed his wand at Ron, his cronies followed suit. "You tell me straightaway what you know, or watch your _friends_," he gave them a disgusted look, "suffer."

Ron grimaced and tensed in alert. If Draco made one wrong move now, he was ready to attack instantly.

Hermione grabbed Ron's shoulder and pulled him a bit down while at same time getting on tiptoe. Her warm breath tickled in his ear and send pleasant chills down his spin as she whispered. "Don't be stupid Ron we don't have a chance against them, they are too many. Our only chance is the forest. We might get rid of them in there."

Ron nodded in understanding without taking his eyes of their opponents, and Hermione let go of him again.

"You're taking orders from a slave?" Malfoy taunted and his cronies chuckled as if by command.

Ron ignored him and rather concentrated on his friends. He was nervous; they would need time to find shelter within the trees and Hermione couldn't even defend herself. Ron turned to Hermione and gave her a few short instructions and to his amazement, she accepted them without questions. Only seconds later he heard her whisper the instructions to Harry and Neville.

Ron made a step towards Malfoy. "Let's just assume I do know something about the treasures." He made a few more steps and turned a bit to the left, away from the forest, Harry and Neville immediately took his place in front of Hermione. To Ron's delight Malfoy and most of his cronies kept their focus on him and left the other three mainly unwatched. "What exactly is in for me, if I tell you about them?"

"I guess that depends on your information and your cooperation." Malfoy sneered.

Ron nodded, but didn't really listen. Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed Harry and Neville take aim with their wands, while Hermione slowly moved backwards towards the forest.

"I want to be part of the council" Ron said imperiously.

Malfoy looked at him open mouthed, taken aback by this statement then he and his cronies started to laugh heartily, and stopped paying attention to the other's in the process.

"Sure", Malfoy cackled "whatever you want."

Ron used Malfoy's distraction and gave Harry and Neville a short nod. Simultaneously the three of them shouted "IMPEDIMENTA"

Ron didn't wait to see if his spell worked or even hit a target, but started to run. He knew they couldn't disable all of them, but the plan had been to confuse them enough to be able to reach the forest.

He heard uproar behind him, orders and spells were screamed, and seconds later jets of different coloured lights shot past him. He could see Harry and Neville disappear in the forest and hastened to catch up to them.

In the last moment Ron dodged a spell, which hit the nearby tree instead and disappeared in the undergrowth. But it was so dark in the forest that he couldn't keep up the pace, due to the danger of tripping over something.

Ron slowed down, blinked and waited impatiently for his eyes to adjust to the twilight. He didn't dare to light his wand, afraid he could reveal his position this way.

Haunted Ron looked around for the others. He couldn't see them, but he heard a rustle on his right-hand side and hurried in this direction. It was Hermione. She was struggling with one of the rather large bushes. He run over to her and noticed that her hair was entangled with some of the bushes' twigs. Ron pulled out the pocket knife, and unceremoniously cut her free. Then he grabbed her arm and fled with her further into the forest.

x

Breathless and heavily panting Ron and Hermione came to a hold on a small clearing. Ron bend over, his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, while Hermione simply sank to the ground in exhaustion.

After a while, when his breath had calmed down again, Ron straitened up and looked around. They were alone and the only noise came from the rushing trees.

"We shouldn't stay here," Hermione said finally, getting to her feet, "we can too easily be spotted here in the open."

Ron nodded and they left the clearing. "Have you seen Harry and Neville?" Ron asked her urgently.

"No," Hermione admitted. "I lost track of them as soon as we reached the forest."

"What do we do now?" Ron asked worried about his friends. "Where shall we look for them?"

"I don't know," Hermione said also worried, "but I think they went in this direction." She pointed north-east, deeper into the forest.

"Okay, then we go there." Ron decided. He lit his wand and they went off. It wasn't an easy task. There were no real paths and they had to fight their way through the thicket, and Ron contemplated if he could burn it down without putting themselves in danger.

"How come Malfoy thought you know something about the treasures?" Hermione asked curiously.

Ron looked over his shoulder and frowned. "How should I know?" Then a thought hit him. "I haven't told him, if that's what you think," he said angrily.

"That's not what I think," Hermione snapped back, "but he has to know it from someone,"

"And so you instantly suspect me?" Ron cried out indignantly.

"No, I …", Hermione stopped abruptly. "When you told the other contestants about the Tournament, did you mention the lost treasures too?" she asked sternly.

"Uhm …, I might have," Ron admitted sheepishly, his cheeks turning pink. Then he asked almost pleadingly "But the Malfoys couldn't have known it was me, who told them, could they?"

Hermione sighed. "They surely heard the rumour too, and apparently retraced it back to you."

"Yeah …, well …, maybe," Ron mumbled rueful and blushed even more, "but that still doesn't explain how they found us."

"We're dealing with the Malfoys, Ron. They probably observed the house and followed us." Hermione looked at him worried. "Do you think your family will be safe?"

Ron gaped at her in alarm, but then said confidently. "They are going to be fine. They can look after themselves; all of them. And they have Remus Lupin. He is probably one of the best Defence-Wizard in Hogwarts. The Malfoys tried to employ him many times, but he likes staying with us, so he didn't go."

Hermione was relieved to hear that. "Why did you tell the others about the lost treasures in the first place?" she flared up after a while with a mixture of anger and puzzlement. "You know they are only a myth, so why bother telling anyone?"

Ron only smirked at her "Well, you also said a lot of people wasted precious time looking for the treasures, so I figured it wouldn't hurt, if some of my competitors would do exactly that."

xxx

The next half an hour went by in silence as Ron and Hermione continued to search the forest for Harry and Neville. They had agreed not to shout for them, in case Malfoy and his cronies were still around. Sometime during their silent walk, they started to hear a new sound among the usual background noises. They stopped to listen.

"That sounds like running water," Ron speculated. "Do you know if there is a river in the Forbidden Forest?"

Hermione shook her head no. "And I can't remember seeing one on the map either."

Ron put his backpack down and pulled the map out. They studied it intently.

"This could be a river," Hermione speculated, pointing at a tear in the parchment.

Ron looked at her doubtfully and said "That would be a big coincidence, wouldn't it? But let's have a look, maybe you're right." And he began to trudge towards the burbling noise. Reluctantly, Hermione followed him.

x

Suddenly Hermione roughly grabbed Ron's arm and held him back. "What?" Ron exclaimed angrily, but hushed as he saw the look on her face. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were bulging. He followed her gaze and his eyes widened in shock. Between the branches of an oak tree, a few feet ahead of them, was a big, no a huge cat, watching them vigilantly.

"I can't believe it," Hermione whispered in a tone somewhere between fear and excitement. "This is a Nundu, they aren't even native in Hogwarts. What is it doing here?"

"Who cares?" Ron hissed impatiently. "Are those things dangerous?"

"Actually they are," Hermione said, more frightened now than excited. "They are supposed to be the most dangerous creatures in existence; there breath carries death and disease.

"Great!" Ron uttered in a high-pitched voice and grabbed his wand more firmly, desperately ransacking his brain for a suitable spell.

"Don't!" Hermione breathed aghast, on the verge of crying out, then fast went on in an urgent whisper. "One spell won't be of much use, you're only going to rile it up. Even if you'd had enough time for a second spell it wouldn't make any difference, it needs about a hundred of them on the same time to accomplish something."

"Great" Ron uttered again, but now definitely sounding hysterical. However he didn't dare to lower his wand; just in case.

Both, he and Hermione were too afraid to move at all, but Ron's eyes wandered frantically about in their sockets, searching for a way out of this precarious situation. Suddenly his gaze stopped on the river, just visible through the bushes, and a thought struck him.

"Hermione, do you know if those beasts can swim?" he asked hopefully.

Surprised Hermione looked over to the river as well. "I don't know," she admitted thoughtfully, "There isn't much water in their usual habitat and they _are_ some kind of cat, so I suppose it's possible they can't. Although many cats actually can swim, they just don't like the water, but that's also not true for all of them, some …,"

"So it could be a possibility." Ron interrupted her speech impatiently.

"Maybe" Hermione croaked fearful.

Ron nodded and studied the Nundu intently, while he estimated the best way and time to make the move. As he did that, Ron became gradually calmer, because now he had a plan what to do next, and needed to concentrate on it rather than his fear.

The Nundu seemed to study them too, ready to pounce on them at any time. But after a while it seemed to loose its interest in them, as they were neither moving nor speaking anymore. The Nundu visibly relaxed and even closed its eyes a fraction.

"NOW!" Ron shouted, he grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her with him, as he hastened towards the river.

The Nundu, startled by the shout and sudden movement, sprang to its feet and sprinted, with short hesitation, after its fleeing prey.

'Please let us make it, please don't let the thing catch us.' Ron chorused in his head, panting and rapidly loosing strength, as he still tugged Hermione with him, who, having shorter legs couldn't run so fast.

Ron didn't dare to look behind him to check on the beast's whereabouts. He was afraid to loose his focus on the river, which appeared not to come any closer.

But then they were there. Cold water greeted them as they threw themselves into it. They both gasped in shock, the cold seemed to suck any air out of their lungs. But they didn't stop to catch it back, and started to swim as fast as possible.

Only now Ron risked a look behind. The monster was prancing along the shore, tentatively sticking a paw in the water once a while, desperate to reach them. Ron was sure, if the river had been just two more strides farther away, or had the thing been a tick faster, he and Hermione would have been history.

They still weren't safe though. Apparently, the Nundu's desire to catch them was greater than its hatred for water. Reluctantly, but determined, it got into the river and began to swim.

"SHIT" Ron cursed loudly. "Hermione, you've got to swim faster!" he shouted over the gurgling river, swallowing a gulp of icy water in doing so. Hermione, who was a few strokes ahead of him, increased her speed, while Ron, spluttering and gasping, tried to catch up to her. The backpack didn't make it easier too.

Finally they reached the other shore. Shaking they crawled on land. But Ron didn't waste any time. He got to his feet and pointed his wand at the creature, which was already alarmingly close to the shore.

"STUPEFY" he bellowed. The jet of red light hit the Nandu directly in the head, but without any effect.

Panicky Ron shouted again and again. "STUPEFY, IMPEDIMENTA, STUPEFY" but the thing came nearer and nearer.

"Damn it, STUPEFY, you ruddy beast," Ron cursed for a last time. And although he had the impression that his last spell accomplished something, Ron had no time to verify it or try again. "RUN" he screamed terrified, but Hermione had already done that.

With no idea where to run next, they blindly stumbled into the thicket of the forest. Spiny twigs tore their clothing and scratched their arms and legs underneath, but they hardly noticed.

For a moment Ron had the impression that he could feel the Nundu's breath in his neck, which of course couldn't be true as he would be dead right then and there, but it was enough to distract him from the path ahead, and he promptly tumbled over a root that stuck out of the ground.

To break his fall, Ron instinctively stretched out his hands and let go of his wand in the process. In horror he watched it flying away and, shortly after, disappearing in the scrub. A faint glow indicated its resting place, much to far from Ron's reach.

Ron turned on his back in surrender. The Nandu had to be here any moment now, to claim his prey. And here it was: the snarl and the rustle of huge paws on dry leaves. Ron closed his eyes. He wished he would be braver and look death in the eyes, but he couldn't. His last thoughts rested with Hermione and he insistently hoped that his death would give her the time she needed to get into safety.

x

Hermione had heard the thump, with which Ron had gone to the ground. At once she reversed to help him up, but realised that it was too late, the Nundu would reach him first. Desperate and without thinking, Hermione picked up Ron's wand, which lay just beside her in the undergrowth, pointed it at the Nundu and yelled. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS"

A jolt of light shot out of the wand and hit the Nundu's head. It stumbled and fell to the ground, only inches away from Ron.

Ron, who had opened his eyes as he heard Hermione yell, came shakily to his feet again.

"Have you …, did you just do …" Ron stammered unbelievingly, pointing wildly between her and the beast on the ground. Hermione starred at the same spot, still holding Ron's wand suspended in midair.

"Magic" they both finished together and Hermione let go of the wand in shock.

* * *

><p><strong>So what do you think? I really like to hear your opinion about the happenings :-D<br>**

**I have to admit I've never read_ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, (shame on me) but I think the Nundu is mentioned there. I've got my idea for it from following website, so feel free to check it out: **

**www hp-lexicon. org /bestiary/bestiary_n html (without the spaces)  
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**I'm not so sure when I'll be able to update next, so you might have to wait a bit for the next chapter, sorry!  
><strong>


	9. The Keeper of the Forbidden Forest

**Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you, I finally updated! I'm really sorry for the long wait, but I don't have much time to write at the moment. I only hope I can make up for it a little bit with this chapter!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>9. The Keeper of the Forbi<strong>**dden Forest**

Ron picked up his wand and went over to check on the beast. He gingerly prodded it with his foot, but luckily the Nundu was cold out and didn't react.

Ron turned to Hermione. "I think it is harmless for now. But we shouldn't stay here any longer in case it wakes up again."

Hermione nodded absent-mindedly, still shocked about the events, staring at the Nundu.

Ron walked back to her and touched her gently on the shoulder. "Are you okay?"

His touch woke her from her stupor. She looked at him "I'm fine," she said a bit shakily, "let's go quickly before the thing becomes conscious again, I've no idea how long the spell might work."

"I just hope there isn't another one of these beasts around," Ron said gloomily and looked nervously around as if he expected to find one already waiting for them in the nearest tree. Hermione followed his gaze and then both simultaneously started to walk away from the place.

x

"Why didn't you tell me, that you can do magic?" Ron asked after a while, sounding a little hurt and disappointed.

"I … I didn't know," Hermione said puzzled, she still couldn't believe it herself, that she really had cast a spell just now.

"Oh come off it," Ron said resentfully, "how could you _not_ know about it? After all, Magic isn't something that can be missed, is it?"

"Well, I didn't know," she defended herself irritated. Ron only huffed and started to stride a bit more forceful, so that Hermione almost had to run to keep up with him.

"Do you think I would have let the Malfoys treat me like scum if I knew I can do magic?" Hermione shouted after him, outraged.

Ron stopped so abruptly that Hermione collided with him. "Probably not," he admitted, "sorry."

Hermione gave him a brief nod to signal him it was okay, and they went off again. But she still had the feeling that there was something wrong between them, that Ron in a way still doubted her.

"How did you do it?" Ron asked after a while, and Hermione didn't miss the hostile tone in his voice. "I thought you said the Nundu can't be defeated with a few spells. So how come _you_ could do it when _I _couldn't? What kind of spell was that anyway?"

"I found it in the book your father gave us," Hermione explained, "and I don't know why it worked. Usually the spell shouldn't have been nearly as powerful enough to even annoy the creature. It simply was the first spell coming to my mind, probably because I read about it just the night before, so I used it."

"That was quite stupid of you then," Ron shot up exasperated, "using a spell you knew shouldn't be working."

"If I hadn't done it you would be dead now," Hermione screeched infuriated.

"Yeah, and you could have been as well," Ron countered unblinkingly. "You rather should have used the time to get yourself to safety, and not playing some kind of hero." And with that he stormed off once more.

Hermione gaped after him in indignation and disbelief. What was the matter with him? Did he actually complain that she saved his life?

Hermione simply couldn't figure him out. One moment he was really nice towards her, even caring at times, and the next moment he was mean and rather rude. Angrily she followed him.

Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke another word for the next couple of hours.

xxx

Hermione was tired, her feet hurt and, although it was summer, her clothes were still damp from the river. The warmth of the sun simply couldn't reach through the thick treetops, and Hermione began to feel really chilly in her wet clothes.

Soon the sun began to set and they couldn't move on. The light produced by Ron's wand was enough to find the way through the twilight of the day, but it was no match for the growing darkness.

Hermione wasn't very keen to spend the night in the forest and Ron seemed to feel the same way, because he anxiously looked around for a suitable place to camp.

"I guess this place is as good as any," Ron said finally, and let his backpack fall to the ground. Exhausted Hermione sat down next to a tree and leaned against its trunk. For a moment she closed her eyes.

Ron stood around, indecisive what to do next, now they have settled down for the night. He watched Hermione taking off her shoes and rubbing her feet with a mixture of relieve and pain on her face.

Hesitantly, he walked over to sit down beside her, but before he had reached her, Hermione looked up at him, with a expectant expression.

"Could you please use a Drying Spell on my clothe?" Hermione asked politely, "I'm freezing."

"Uh … yeah … I mean … I probably could," Ron stuttered, turning pink. "But the thing is … uhm … I don't know any Drying Spells."

"Oh," Hermione said surprised, and Ron could see the disappointment on her face and blushed even more.

"There was a Drying Spell in the book," Hermione remembered suddenly, stood up and pulled it out of Ron's backpack. But like everything else in the backpack, the book was soaked through. Hermione tried to open it, but the sides tightly stuck together and she was afraid she might tear them, if she'd forced them apart.

"Do you think it's save to lit a fire?" Hermione asked instead, shivering violently.

Ron contemplated her question briefly then said "I think it's better if we not do it. Who knows what other creatures are living in this blasted forest."

"I guess you're right," Hermione said crestfallen. She settled back against her tree, and curled up into a ball to preserve her body heat.

Ron watched her for a moment. He was so embarrassed that he couldn't even produce a simple Drying Spell; he didn't need Hermione's chattering teeth to remind him of that on top of it.

Ashamed with himself, Ron searched through the contents of his backpack, desperate to find anything helpful. But all he found was his dripping wet sleeping bag. Ron extracted it and furtively tried to wring it out. But of course, his efforts didn't accomplish much; the sleeping bag remained almost as wet as before.

He wasn't sure if it would actually help against the cold in this state, or rather increase it, but nevertheless, with flaming red ears, he draped it like a blanket over him and the shivering Hermione as he sat down next to her.

x

They sat huddled together under their 'blanket' in an awkward silence. They didn't dare to move as they both were painfully aware of the other one's presence right next to them.

"Thanks by the way … you know … for uh … saving my life," Ron mumbled eventually, smiling sheepishly at her. Hermione smiled happily back. "You're welcome," she whispered.

For a moment they fell silent again until Hermione cautiously asked. "Would you … would you teach me how to do magic?"

Ron was taken aback. "You want _me_ to teach you?" he asked astonished, but also rather pleased by her question.

"You don't have to do it of course, but … uhm … I mean … you're the only wizard around who could do it so … uh," Hermione muttered bashfully, falsely taking Ron's astonishment for indignation.

'Of course she wouldn't ask _me_ if there was another possibility,' Ron thought disappointed. Especially after his disastrous display of his inability to perform magic just now. She probably would have asked Harry. After all, Harry wasn't bad at casting spells, and he and Hermione had become rather close too. Even Neville and her were getting along better than him and her, Ron then realised bitterly.

Determined to hide his disappointment, that he wasn't her first choice, Ron said, trying to sound nonchalantly. "No, it's all right, I'll teach you."

If Ron would have looked at her while saying this, he might have seen Hermione's delighted face at the prospect of _him_ teaching her magic. She wouldn't admit it of course, but she liked the idea that it was Ron, who would give her the first lesson, and not someone else.

xxx

Harry was frantic. He and Neville had crept back to their starting point in the fading light, hoping they would find Ron and Hermione there.

For a while they searched the surrounding, and even called for them a few times, but with no success. Harry was on the verge of running blindly into the forest by now, to keep looking for them, but Neville pointed out that it would be nearly impossible to find them in the dark, even if they knew the roughly direction where Ron and Hermione might be.

And so Harry and Neville spent the night at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They didn't sleep much though. Both had the same nagging questions floating around in their minds, which wouldn't let them rest. Where were Ron and Hermione? What if Draco Malfoy and his cronies got a hold on them? Harry only hoped that they were together, wherever they might be.

And if those disturbing thoughts wouldn't have been enough to handle already, they were startled up a few times during the night, because they heard, or imagined to hear, something or someone moving around their encampment. That's why both were immensely relieved, when the sun finally came up again.

x

"There is nothing for it," Harry said, "they have to be somewhere in there, so in order to find them we have to go into the forest as well."

They had delayed their departure a bit, hoping that Ron and Hermione might find them yet.

Neville nodded despondently. It was one thing to go inside a dark and dangerous looking forest with a group of four, but it was just him and Harry now, which left him with a much less secure feeling.

"I know," he said, "but they could be everywhere. How are we ever going to find them?"

Harry had wondered that himself, but had come to no satisfying solution yet. During all their preparations, they had never talked about the possibility of being separated. Their whole plan to survive the Tournament was based on them working together after all.

"I don't know," Harry admitted, "but we have to try at least. Sitting here waiting won't help much with our problem."

They didn't mention it, but they both were worried that something bad had happened to Ron and Hermione. And so Harry and Neville began their own journey inside the Forbidden Forest.

xxx

Although they were wet and cold and highly uncomfortable, leaning against the tree trunk, at some point during the night, both Ron and Hermione had fallen asleep.

As the first rays of sunlight fell through the treetops, Ron began to stir. He needed a moment to remember where he was and what had happened the previous day.

He opened his eyes, but had to shut them immediately again, because of the dazzling sunlight. By pure chance they had chosen a place where the sun could actually reach down to them through the treetops.

His second attempt was therefore more carefully done, he slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times until they got used to the light.

Ron looked sideways at Hermione. She was cuddled comfortable against him, her head resting on his shoulder, still asleep. Ron smiled at the sight of her and tried not to move, so she wouldn't wake up, but of course, as if she had sensed him watching her, Hermione suddenly opened her eyes.

For a moment they stared at each other, then Hermione suddenly recoiled, and both, furiously blushing, turned away.

Ron sprang to his feet and stretched, while Hermione rummaged through the backpack for some food. Silently they began to eat.

"Did you mean it yesterday?" Hermione asked tentatively. When Ron only frowned at her puzzled, she clarified, "that you would teach me spells."

"Oh, yeah, sure, I meant that."

"Great. Could we … I mean if it's alright with you, of course … try one right now?" Hermione asked haltingly but eagerly.

"Sure," Ron shrugged smiling. "Anything in particular you want to try?"

"The spell you used to levitate the stones the other day," she said promptly. Hermione felt confident that she might be able to master that spell, after all she had studied it for a while until Ron had caught her.

"Fine," Ron said relieved. Knowing Hermione, he had been afraid she would ask for a more difficult spell.

When they were finished with their breakfast, Ron showed Hermione how to perform the spell, then he handed her his wand so she could try it herself. Hermione reverently took it. She had never held a wand before, besides the day before, and then she hadn't had the time to actually relish the moment. Ron laughed at her behaviour and Hermione turned slightly pink.

"Go on, try it!" Ron encouraged her, almost equally eager to see her performing the spell as Hermione was doing it.

Hermione flicked the wand, but nothing happened. Ron chuckled good-naturedly. "You're doing it wrong. Here, you have to move it like this," he took her hand and showed her the right movement once more, "and it's Wing-_gar_-dium Levi-_o_-sa, make the gar nice and long."

Hermione tried again, and the leaf she was supposed to levitate, actually rose a few inches of the ground. Hermione was so excited about it, that she lost her concentration, and the spell broke at once. Ron chuckled even harder at that, and Hermione playfully hit his arm.

"Don't laugh at me," she said, but had trouble not to laugh right along with him. She aimed the wand again at the leaf, and after another three attempts she was able to do it perfectly. Hermione beamed at Ron who smiled proudly back at her. "Told you, you can do it," he whispered.

x

After their little lesson, Ron and Hermione packed their things and decamped. But their journey through the forest wasn't any different from the day before, one bush looked like the other, and Hermione wouldn't be surprised if they actually walked in circles.

"This wandering without the slightest plan is pointless. We're never going to find them in this horrible forest," Hermione groused after a couple of hours.

"And what do _you_ suggest we do then?" Ron asked testily.

Hermione glared at him. "Give me the map," she demanded and held out her hand. "I want to check it again, maybe we overlooked something."

Ron snorted in disbelief. "Yeah of course, maybe if you ask it nicely, the map will show you the way," he said sarcastically, but took it out anyway.

"Very funny, Ron," Hermione snapped, and yanked it out of his hand.

"Seriously Hermione, this map is useless," Ron complained, "and it's not even accurate. I mean this wasn't a little creek we had to swim through yesterday, but a real stream. So explain to me why it isn't marked on the map? And don't tell me it is the tear again, because it isn't."

Hermione shrugged, she had no answer for that. "Still, maybe we can find out where we are."

Ron looked at her doubtfully, but didn't say anything else. Hermione sat down, unfolded the map, put it onto the ground in front of her and began to study it intently.

Ron sighed in defeat, kneeled down too and looked over her shoulder to also study the map, searching for any signs he might recognise. "Where in name of Merlin are we?" he asked frustrated after a few minutes.

"I'm not sure, I can't pinpoint our exact …," Hermione stopped abruptly and stared at the parchment. "I can't believe it, Ron, look at this!" she cried out and showed him two tiny spots on the map.

"What?" Ron asked puzzled, seeing nothing special at all.

"Those spots suddenly appeared out of nowhere," Hermione said excited.

Ron frowned at it, scrutinising the tiny spots. "Why? What are they?"

"I don't kn…," Hermione gasped suddenly. "Maybe they are us."

"Come again? Us? You don't honestly believe that, do you?" Ron snorted, but Hermione's face indicated exactly that. "All right," Ron said sceptical, "but why did they have appeared only now, and not sometime earlier? We want to know where we are since yesterday, after all."

Hermione pondered a moment about the matter. Her nose was wrinkled up while she did that and Ron couldn't help but stare at her mesmerised. For some unknown reason he couldn't keep his eyes of her every time she did that.

"Well," she finally said, "I have a theory. Maybe you actually_ do_ have to ask the map, when you want to know something."

Ron scowled at her because he thought she was making fun of him, and Hermione hastened to explain her discovery. "I mean, you _did_ ask it, where we are, although not exactly nicely I have to say, and after that, the spots appeared."

"Fine," Ron said, still not convinced of her theory. He leaned over the map and said in an awfully sweet voice. "Dear lovely map, would you please be so kind and show us where our friends, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, might be?"

When he was finished he sat up, glared at Hermione and pointed accusingly at the map. "There you see? No spots whatsoever."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hermione said excited as two new spots appeared on the map, not so far away from the first ones. "Look!"

Ron gaped unbelievingly at the map. "Bloody Hell!"

xxx

"I think we are lost," Neville declared quite unnecessary, after hours of wandering around. "I don't even know in which direction we're moving anymore. Is this south?"

"No, I think south is there," Harry said, pointing in the opposite direction.

"Are you sure?" Neville asked perplexed.

"No!"

Frustrated they sat down to eat some lunch, before they continued their journey again.

x

In the late afternoon Harry realised what a most stupid idea it had been to just run into the forest. Not only weren't they any nearer in finding Ron and Hermione, but now they probably would never get out of the forest as well. They were stuck, they might even die here, and no one would ever know what has happened to them.

Harry just wanted to share this disturbing realisation with Neville, when he heard it. Something was moving through the forest besides them, and according to the noises, it was huge.

Neville had heard it too. Both of them stood paralysed, staring in the direction the noises were coming from, too afraid to even move the tiniest muscle.

Then the big something broke through the undergrowth in front of them.

Harry's eyes widened in shock, as he looked up at the being in front of him. Neville's mouth was hanging open in a silent scream.

xxx

"We're almost there," Hermione exclaimed in excitement, watching the tiny spots of Harry and Neville on the map drew nearer and nearer to her and Ron's.

"About time," Ron said relieved. It was getting dark again and the prospect of finding their friends before the night were good news.

"We should be able to see them any …," Hermione couldn't finish the sentence, because Ron suddenly clapped his hand over her mouth to silence her and dragged her behind a tree. There he released her again, but signified her to keep quiet.

Cautiously he peered around the tree to see what was happening. A few feet away he could see Harry and Neville. But they weren't alone. A huge 'man' was with them, but Ron couldn't make out if his friends were in danger or not.

"You stay here," he whispered urgently to Hermione and stood up.

"What? No!" she objected at once and sprang to her feet as well.

"Yes you do," Ron hissed under his breath, "you have no wand to defend yourself, so please just do what I tell you and stay here."

They had a short and silent glaring match until Hermione yielded and gave him a submissive nod. But before Ron could leave to help his friends, Hermione held him back on the arm.

"Be careful," she said imploringly, looking him directly into the eyes.

"I will," Ron said huskily, and hurried off with a stoop, so he remained hidden behind the bushes.

x

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" Ron heard the giant ask, and to his utter astonishment, he didn't sound hostile or dangerous at all, but rather demanding, mingled with a bit surprise.

"We … we … uh … got lost," Harry managed to stammer, and Ron couldn't help but admire his friend's bravery.

"Lost?" the giant frowned at them, or at least Ron thought he did, it was hard to tell with the mass of wild hair framing his head. Suddenly the giant let out a booming laugh. "Yeah, I would they so. But how come you end up in the Forbidden Forest in the first place?"

Now it was Harry and Neville, who frowned at him, and Ron suspected they were equally stunned about the giant's behaviour like he was.

"We are looking for our friends. They were chased into the forest by … uh … an unpleasant lot." Harry explained, apparently, not very keen to reveal too much about their presence in the forest.

"I'm Harry, by the way, Harry Potter and this is Neville Longbottom," he introduced them.

"Rubeus Hagird," said the giant, holding out his hand for them to shake. "I'm the keeper of the Forbidden Forest. You can call me Hagrid."

"Oh, that's good. Uhm, maybe … maybe you could help us to find our friends then?" Harry dared to ask boldly.

Suddenly Ron realised that he was still crouched behind the bushes, his wand half raised in case he had to attack, listening how his friends talked to the giant about looking for him and Hermione. He lowered his wand and straightened himself.

"I'm here, Harry," he called out.

All three of them turned surprised in his direction.

"Ron!" Harry and Neville shouted, and in the next moment Ron was pulled into a tight embrace. "Where is Hermione?" Harry asked frightened when he realised him again, looking around anxiously.

"Oh, she is over there," Ron pointed and shouted. "Hermione, it's all right, you can come now." And seconds later, Hermione hurried over to them and was engulfed by Harry and Neville too.

In their happiness of having found each other again, they almost forgot the giant man next to them.

"What about a cup of tea now?" Hagrid offered, watching them happily. "My cabin isn't far from here and you could tell me all about your adventures over a hot cup of tea and some of my famous rock cakes."

Harry, Neville and Hermione turned to Ron, waiting for him to decide. Ron turned pink. When had they defined him as their leader, he wondered.

"Yeah, thank you, a cup of tea would be nice," he said, hoping it wasn't a mistake to trust this Hagrid. But his beaming face and twinkling eyes made Ron believe that the giant was indeed trustworthy.

"Splendid," Hagrid exclaimed, "I don't have a lot of visitors around, and it's always good to hear what is happening outside the forest. Come on you lot!"

They trudged off, Hagrid in the lead and the others following him.

Ron looked nervously around, checking if the others agreed with his decision. They seemed to do so, as they all followed Hagrid without hesitation. But just in case, he held his wand at hand.

x

As they reached the cabin, Ron abruptly came to hold, and Hermione behind him gasped in shock. In front of the wooden house lolled a giant, cat-like, all too familiar creature, relishing in the sun.

"There you are," Hagrid said fondly, patting the beasts head. "She didn't come home last night and I was rather worried that something has happened to her," he explained. "So I went out to look for her and found you instead."

When he noticed Ron and Hermione's pale faces, and Harry and Neville's frightened expressions, Hagird said. "She isn't dangerous. You don't have to be afraid, she won't harm you."

"Not dangerous," Ron said exasperated in a high pitched voice, "that beast has tried to kill us."

Hagrid frowned at them. "Well, of course she can look after herself, but I assure you Silky wouldn't hurt you on purpose. She was probably just protecting her kittens."

"You mean there actually are more of them around?" Hermione asked faintly.

"Only her and her two babies. She was pregnant when I got her," Hagrid explained, stroking the Nundu's fur.

Ron gaped at him in disbelief. "But what about her deathly breath?" he asked panicky.

"Silky is a half breed, her breath isn't deathly." Hagrid objected.

"Of course," Hermione burst out, "that's why we could hex her, Ron. Her being a half breed must have made her more prone to hexes then a normal Nundu would be."

"That's comforting," Ron said sarcastically, still cautiously staring at the cat. For a moment she stared back at him through big yellow eyes, but then only yawned lazily and stretched herself.

"Well, she is kind of cute," Hermione announced suddenly and Hagrid beamed at her.

"Cute? Hermione, that thing chased us through half the forest with the goal to kill us, in case you have forgotten, and you think it's cute?"

"Yeah, well, look at her," Hermione said defensively. The Half-Nundu had started to preen herself, and although Ron wouldn't go as far as call her cute, she, at least, didn't look dangerous anymore. But he was still relieved when they went into Hagrid's cabin and closed the door behind them, locking the Half-Nundu out.

Harry and Neville had followed the conversation outside the house with growing interest, and were now keen to hear the full story. And while Hagrid made the tea, they all started to tell each other what has happened since they got separated the day before.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what do you think? Was it worth the wait, or not? I guess you know, how to tell me your opinion! I would really appreciate it. So don't be shy (or lazy, hehe) and review :-)<br>**


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